Manchester City 3 West Brom 0: Tony Pulis can't believe 'absolutely amazing' decision to send off Gareth McAuley at the Etihad

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West Brom manager Tony Pulis said he couldn't believe how referee Neil Swarbrick sent off Gareth McAuley rather than Craig Dawson at the Etihad.

The Baggies' manager saw his side lose 3-0 to Manchester City after McAuley was sent off just 90 minutes into the contest.

Pulis believes two crucial decisions played a huge part in his side's loss.

The manager was fuming after seeing his centre-back sent-off in the early stages, before Fernando appeared to jump unfairly with Saido Berahino in the build-up to the second goal.

"How he gets the lad wrong is just absolutely amazing to me," he told BT Sport.

"The second goal shouldn't be allowed, Fernando kicked Saido in the face while jumping and it's a decision which leads to the second goal and kills the game.

"Let's be fair, it was going to be tough here today. Saido missed a great chance to make it 2-1 but obviously it's a game that was decided in the first couple of minutes."

City boss Manuel Pellegrini said he was pleased to see a positive display from his side after a disappointing week which saw them lose to Burnley and Barcelona.

"I think it was a very good performance. Today we were very concentrated defensively to not allow them to score and after that we created a lot of chances and scored three goals," the under-fire Chilean said.

Asked whether his side can still compete for the title, he added: "I think that the only thing we must do is try and win the next game."