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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MARCH 2015 33 WEST Brom saw Gareth McAuley sent off after just minutes in an apparent case of mistaken identity after Craig Dawson had brought down Wilfried Bony, and the visi- tors could not recover. Bony opened the scoring before Fernando took advantage of some sloppy defending to double City's advantage. In the second half, City increased their lead when David Silva was able to def lect home a Stevan Jo- vetic shot. Arsenal continued their excel- lent recent run of form with a 2-1 victory at Newcastle. Arsenal, who went into the game on the back of five consecutive vic- tories in all competitions, seized control of the clash with two goals inside four minutes from Olivier Giroud. However, Newcastle – who en- tered the game after winning just one of their last six – hit back early in the second half when Moussa Sissoko side-footed home from a Remy Cabella cross. Harry Kane moved to the top of the Premier League goal-scoring charts as his hat trick helped Tot- tenham Hotspur to a 4-3 win over Leicester City. Tottenham, who saw goalkeeper Hugo Lloris stretchered off in the opening moments of the game, looked to have seized control of the game when Kane scored a brace inside the opening 13 min- utes. However, Jamie Vardy turned in a David Nugent cross before the break, and Leicester were back on level terms when Wes Morgan headed home on 50 minutes. Spurs restored their lead when Nugent fouled Danny Rose in the penalty area, and Kane – who this week received his first senior Eng- land call-up – converted the spot kick to restore his side's lead and move clear of Chelsea striker Diego Costa as the division's top scorer. Leicester's hopes receded on 85 minutes when Christian Eriksen's effort def lected off Kasper Sch- meichel before Jeffrey Schlupp di- verted the ball into his own goal, but there was still time for Nugent to make it 4-3 in the 90th minute. European hopefuls Southampton enjoyed a 2-0 success against rel- egation battlers Burnley. Saints, having lost goalkeeper Fraser Forster to injury early on, took the lead seven minutes before the break through Shane Long's close-range finish, and they made it 2-0 just before the hour-mark when Jason Shackell turned a Ryan Bertrand cross into his own net. Crystal Palace came from behind to beat Stoke City 2-1 at the Britan- nia Stadium. Stoke had taken the lead on 14 minutes when Mame Biram Diouf poked the ball home following a Charlie Adam free kick, but Glenn Murray levelled up from the pen- alty spot after Asmir Begovic was deemed to have fouled Yannick Bolasie. Wilfried Zaha then capitalised on a loose ball in the area to score his second goal in two games and give Palace the advantage. Swansea City snatched a dramat- ic 1-0 win at Aston Villa. The match at Villa Park had ap- peared set to end in a stalemate until Bafetimbi Gomis slid home a cross from Jefferson Montero on 87 minutes. Diafra Sakho scored a late win- ner for West Ham to consign Dick Advocaat to a 1-0 defeat in his first game in charge of Sunderland. Advocaat – a replacement for the sacked Gus Poyet – was just two minutes away from collecting a precious point, but Sakho pounced on a loose ball in the Sunderland area to rif le home a half-volley in the 88th minute and ease the pres- sure on Hammers boss Sam Al- lardyce. Sport FOOTBALL SPORTTODAY City cruise past ten-men West Brom; Arsenal and Spurs win Wilfred Bony scores the opening goal for Manchester City Referee Neil Swarbrick issues apology Referee Neil Swarbrick has apologised for wrongly sending off West Brom's Gareth McAuley during his side's 3-0 loss at Manchester City MCAULEY was a victim of mistaken identity when he was shown a red card after Craig Dawson fouled Wil- fried Bony in the second minute of the Barclays Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium. Swarbrick has now admitted to his error in a statement from Profession- al Game Match Officials Ltd, the or- ganisation responsible for refereeing appointments. The statement read: "In the sec- ond minute of Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion, referee Neil Swarbrick made a decision to send off Gareth McAuley for a 'denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity' offence. "The referee has confirmed the of- fence was caused by a different player, which should be addressed now as a case of mistaken identity. The referee has apologised for his error." It was the second mistaken identity controversy in the Premier League in space of three weeks and the third in a year after incidents involving Sun- derland and Arsenal. It also came on a day when there was a further red- card mix-up in the Sky Bet Champi- onship. At the John Smith's Stadium, Hud- dersfield's Cauley Woodrow was sent off in his side's 2-0 loss to Fulham for deliberate handball by referee Ri- chard Clark but refused to leave the field in protest. He had to be dragged to the touch- line by his team-mates but Clark consulted the fourth official and Ful- ham's bench after further protests. He eventually rescinded his decision and instead sent off Shaun Hutchin- son for the offence. Back at Eastlands, West Brom boss Tony Pulis called for greater use of video technology to assist officials and avoid such critical mistakes. Pulis was angered on two levels, not only because Swarbrick got the wrong man, but also because he did not believe the offence was worthy of a red card anyway. He said: "Refereeing is not easy, es- pecially at the level we are at now and how quick the game is. "This product is one of the great- est products this country now sells all over the world, but it is no good moaning about referees. What we have to do is find a way to help ref- erees out. "I would definitely call now for managers to have two calls each and every game, where there are 30 seconds and they can have a video link-up with people upstairs who can watch it on video. "It will eradicate the major deci- sions referees are getting wrong that actually affect games of football. We have to work hard to do that in what is the greatest league in the world. The sooner that comes in the bet- ter." Dawson bundled Bony over just outside the box to concede a free- kick, but confusion followed because the striker attempted to play on and was then brought down by McAuley.