Zola was booked for a 50:50 challenge on the Falkirk goalkeeper after only 6 minutes, then referee Steven McLean blew up every time the big frontman was involved in a tussle with a Bairns player.
The Congolese striker was subbed after half an hour when he appeared to be limping after taking a knock, but McInnes has confirmed what many onlookers suspected - that he had hooked Zola before the ref got his cards out again.
Ironically, Zola's replacement Scott Vernon went on to claim a hat-trick, continuing his wonderful week on front of goal for Aberdeen.
McInnes said: "Scott got a bit longer than he was anticipating. We always wanted to get him a good chunk of the game but he got on the pitch a bit quicker thanks to a lot of poor decisions against big Calvin.
"We did not want to run the risk of getting him sent off. But Scott got on and it gave him enough time to get a hat-trick."
[via STV]