Garcia had only been on the field for two minutes as a substitute when he clashed with Mullins, who pushed the Spaniard over. Referee Howard Webb sent them off and both can expect three-game bans.
Liverpool stays third with 76 points, three behind Man United, which has played a game less but is at leader Chelsea tomorrow. West Ham retains 10th spot with 49 points.
Luiz Felipe Scolari is to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager, a series of reports said yesterday, sparking surprise -- and some protests -- that the job should go to a foreign coach for a second time.
The Brazilian popularly known as "Big Phil," who won the 2002 World Cup with his home nation, was offered the post by Football Association executives on Wednesday, newspapers and broadcasters reported.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick and lawyer Simon Johnson made a formal approach to Scolari, 57, at a meeting in Lisbon, where he is preparing the Portuguese team for the World Cup finals, beginning on June 9.
They met him with full permission from Portuguese football authorities, FA officials were quoted as saying anonymously.
Returning yesterday, Barwick confirmed that he had met Scolari, but refused to confirm the Brazilian was now the FA's first choice to replace Eriksson.
Scolari's contract with Portugal, whom he led to the Euro 2004 finals, expires on July 31 and he is thought to have agreed not to commit himself to another post before this date.
The FA board is due to meet next Thursday and had hoped to be in a position to finalize their selection by then.
News of the FA's reported move for Scolari over a homegrown candidate was met with unease in some quarters.
"I think it would be a popular decision, but I don't think in the long term it's a good decision for what's best for England and English football," said Howard Wilkinson, twice England's caretaker boss and now chairman of the League Managers' Association.
Mark Hughes, the Blackburn Rovers boss who formerly managed the Welsh team, called the new "another blow to British coaching," as well as to the coaching courses run by the FA itself.
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