I remember Ole Gunner did it for Man Utd in a game they were drawing, but Arsenal won the title anyway. It just summed up how desperate Utd were. But yes, that's the exact case where a penalty would be the better option than a red card.
One option is to ask the captain of the team fouled...
I agree with this, and would go further. I would say ANY foul that prevents a goal-scoring opportunity should be punished with a penalty and a yellow card. An early automatic red ruins the game, and of course currently denying a goal-scoring opportunity in a close game in the last ten minutes is...