David Beckham was sent off for a studs-up lunge just six minutes into a substitute appearance for Paris St-Germain.
The 37-year-old’s dismissal, late in PSG’s 1-0 French league win over Evian, was the seventh of his career.
The reckless challenge left Youssef Adnane rolling around in agony - although Beckham appeared to make little contact with the Evian player - and the bad-tempered match ended in a mass brawl,
with two more red cards shown.
PSG assistant coach Claude Makelele was sent to the stands for remonstrating and emotions continued to run high after the final whistle, when Evian striker Saber Khelifa and PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu were involved in a scuffle which saw both also dismissed.
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Pleading innocence: David Beckham was sent off for a tackle on Youssef Adnane
Off: Beckham executes his ill-fated challenge on Adnane
The scenes overshadowed the rest of the match, during which Javier Pastore's 50th-minute goal had proved decisive as PSG re-established their nine-point advantage over second-placed Marseille with four games left.
Both sides looked to get the upper hand in the early stages with Zlatan Ibrahimovic forcing a two-handed save from Bertrand Laquait with a volley from distance before Saber Khelifa bent a long distance shot just over Salvatore Sirigu's bar.
Ibrahimovic continued to cause problems for the hosts' defence and the Swede escaped his marker from a Maxwell free-kick but Laquait was on hand again to turn his effort away for a corner.
Marching orders: Referee Olivier Thual shows Beckham a red card
Sour end: Beckham makes his way off the pitch as Adnane lays on the floor
Winner: Javier Pastore scored the only goal of the game to earn three points for PSG
Opinionated: Marseille's Joey Barton has his say on Beckham's red
PSG began to boss the midfield and Ezequiel Lavezzi found himself in a good shooting position but the Argentinian failed to find the target following a quick counter-attack.
With the scores level at half-time, the visitors came out undeterred after the break and soon found themselves in front.
Jeremy Menez and Christophe Jallet combined well to fashion an opportunity for Pastore and he made no mistake with his right foot from just inside the area.
Tempers: Players from both sides engaged in a brawl after the final whistle
Now baying for blood, PSG continued to press and Ibrahimovic thought he should have had a penalty following a robust challenge from Cedric Mongongu but referee Olivier Thual disagreed.
Evian almost gifted PSG a second when Menez's cross was turned goalwards by Cedric0 Cambon but his attempted clearance came back off the bar before Ibrahimovic blasted the rebound over from point-blank range.
As PSG began to turn the screw only a goal-line clearance from Mongongu prevented Lavezzi doubling the score after he rounded the keeper and the visitors were almost made to pay for that miss moments later when Daniel Wass forced a good save from Sirigu.
Made up yet? PSG 'keeper Salvatore Sirigu (right) and Evian 'keeper Bertrand Laquait (left) argue
Angered: PSG goalkeeper Sirigu was clearly unhappy with something at the final whistle
The Italian keeper was in even better form with 20 minutes left to play when he pulled off a superb save to deny Khelifa after Yannick Sagbo pulled the ball back into his path.
In what was proving to be an entertaining encounter, some good PSG interplay ended with Veratti flicking the ball into the path of Pastore but his close-range effort was saved well by Laquait.
That was the last action Veratti would see though as the Italian midfielder was given a first of two red cards in the final minutes for a second yellow.