Keane presses self-destruct button

United's storm-tossed captain wades into yet more controversy after scuffle with a former Irish team-mate brings the red card and a three-game ban

Roy Keane's problems mounted yesterday when he was sent off in injury time at the end of Manchester United's 1-1 draw at Sunderland. Keane's World Cup troubles seemed to return to haunt him at the Stadium of Light as he was shown the red card for apparently elbowing his Republic of Ireland team-mate Jason McAteer. Residual resentments also seemed to surface when Sunderland's mild-mannered Irish striker Niall Quinn shook Keane's hand, seemingly sarcastically, as the abrasive United midfielder made his way off the pitch.

That gesture incensed Manchester United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who was already unhappy with the decision from the referee, Uriah Rennie. "I do not think he swung an elbow – he put an arm across his face. If the referee deems it a sending-off I do not know what we can do. The player [McAteer] went down quickly, which is disappointing. We will see what the offence is but my gut feeling is it was very soft. The ref did not act [on a previous incident in the match] when Keane was kicked in the back as seen on TV. I think if people see it then they will judge it – it was an innocuous incident."

Innocuous or not, the dismissal brings a three-match ban, and adds to Keane's troubles. He is waiting to hear whether the Football Association will charge him for bringing the game into disrepute over comments in his recently published autobiography about a clash with Manchester City's Alfie Haaland. Keane's problems began with his very public falling out with the Republic of Ireland's manager, Mick McCarthy, at the summer's World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan. After a showdown over the Republic's preparations, McCarthy sent Keane home.

His dismissal yesterday overshadowed the goal that the Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo scored on his debut, matching his achievements when starting his careers at Chelsea and Rangers. His 70th-minute equaliser cancelled the goal with which Ryan Giggs had put United ahead after seven minutes.

Birmingham City collected their first ever victory in the Premiership when they battled their way to a 2-1 home win over Leeds United and in the process stepped up early-season pressure on Terry Venables. On the day the striker Robbie Keane followed Rio Ferdinand out of Elland Road, the Leeds manager saw his side suffer their second defeat in 72 hours, having lost 1-0 at home to Sunderland on Wednesday.

Birmingham had much the better of the first half and led by Paul Devlin's goal at the interval, but Leeds picked up their game after the interval and, after clever interpassing, Lee Bowyer netted an equaliser. Leeds looked capable of taking command but were caught out by a stunning goal from Damien Johnson. With almost an hour gone Johnson played a one-two with Stern John and curled a shot round Paul Robinson into the Leeds net.

Birmingham were matched by their neighbours West Bromwich Albion, who also claimed their maiden Premiership victory yesterday. A single goal from Darren Moore early in the second half settled their feisty encounter with Fulham at The Hawthorns, while the other promoted side, Manchester City, needed all their survival skills after they had Shaun Wright-Phillips sent off when leading Everton 2-1 at home. However, they did not just cling on but added a third goal, Nicolas Anelka completing his hat-trick.