Manchester United have asked the Football Association (FA) to overturn the yellow card shown to Fabio da Silva in their 2-0 victory over Barnsley because his twin brother should have been booked instead. Sir Alex Ferguson admits he struggles to tell them apart and now it appears that even the referees suffer from the same problem.

When both Da Silva twins challenged Barnsley’s Jamal Campbell-Ryce in the 83rd minute, Chris Foy showed a yellow card to Fábio. Later television replays showed Rafael was the offender. The FA confirmed it has been approached by Manchester United and the submission will be heard on Tuesday by a regulatory commission.

“We are in discussions with the FA,” confirmed a United spokesman. “We have pointed out that the referee made a mistake on the night and we obviously want it to be corrected. We will be asking for further advice on how best to rectify the situation.”

The United manager found common ground with the referee with his previous admission that he can only tell the difference between the 19-year-old Da Silva twins by the wedding ring that Fábio wears.