10 of the craziest Premier League facts: Part 1

#1 Three PL players got sent off without touching the ball

Reading's Dave Kitson receiving straight red as Evra lies on the floor

Andres Johansson (2004), Kieth Gillespie (2007) and Dave Kitson (2007) have something in common. The three players hold the unwanted record of getting sent off without even touching the ball.

On as a late second-half substitute in the last game at Highbury, Johansson, then of Wigan brought down Freddie Ljungberg inside the box subsequently being sent off just 88 seconds into his arrival.

Sheffield United’s Keith Gillespie was technically sent off after zero seconds during a Premier League game against Reading in January 2007. After replacing Derek Geary early in the second half, Gillespie elbowed Stephen Hunt in the face and duly saw red before the game had even been restarted.

Finally, Dave Kitson, on as a second-half substitute against Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams, lunged in to stop a Patrice Evra clearance completely mistiming the tackle leaving the referee with no choice other than to show red. All this took place 37 seconds after Kitson came on.