But it was a decision that baffled Reserves boss McAuley, who initially thought a free kick had been given Liverpool's way.
He said: "From our point of view it was a very poor decision by the referee. To send El Hadji off was absolutely ridiculous.
"We thought he had given the decision our way and then suddenly we saw the red card. There was no need for him to take any action at all and we can't understand why he came to that decision.
"We were very disappointed and it is something the club will deal with in the next few days after looking at the video evidence.
"That decision marred a good night for us. It just put a dampener on things and I feel sorry for the player."