Source: Telegraph
Elano fires Manchester City on hunt for Europe
On a day when the sun shone brightly on this corner of east Manchester, it was perhaps inevitable that both Elano and Robinho - the South American pair that have added to Hughes's grey hairs this season - would rediscover their autumnal form and their goalscoring double-act proved decisive as City edged West Brom closer to relegation in this 4-2 victory.
Yet in typical City fashion, the game could have ended as a 5-5 draw or, even worse, a 6-5 defeat had more defensive errors been capitalized on by either side. So Hughes's decision to replace a clearly exhausted Elano with holding midfielder Gelson Fernandes with sixteen minutes left to play should have been viewed as a wary manager attempting to bolt the back door and safeguard victory.
But the chorus of boos that greeted the substitution, and a repeat of last Sunday's chant of 'You don't know you're doing', summed up the task that Hughes also faces off the pitch at Eastlands. Manchester United supporters mockingly refer to City's stadium as the 'Boo Camp' and here was the reason why.
Having allowed West Brom, with two strikes from Chris Brunt, to cancel out the 2-0 lead built by Robinho's first goal since December and Nedum Onuoha's twenty-first minute header, the grumbles around Eastlands were perhaps understandable.
But once Elano had restored City's lead from the penalty spot just two minutes after Brunt's equaliser, Albion threw everything at the home side in a vain attempt claw something from the game. Elano, all flair and virtually no defensive qualities, was hardly going to help stem the tide.
Hughes said: "Elano has ice packs all over his body, bless him, and he was talking to the bench all through the game, so maybe these decisions need a bit of understanding.
"With the workload we have had, we are trying to protect the players and not put them at risk in the closing stages of games. We have lost Pablo Zabaleta towards the end of this game with a hamstring injury and that's something we are trying to avoid.
"The stresses and strains of combining domestic and European football are new to the players and the fans. It needs understanding at times, even when the fans want to see their favourites on the pitch."
Trailing 3-2 and with their hopes of survival diminishing by the minute, West Brom launched a concerted effort towards squaring the game. City's defence wobbled again and Shay Given's goal led a charmed life as Jonas Olsson, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Borja Valero wasted clear chances before Daniel Sturridge rubber-stamped City's victory with an injury-time tap-in.
Albion manager Tony Mowbray said: "Ultimately, we weren't good enough because we missed too many chances and conceded four goals. We created enough to get something. If we had Rio Ferdinand in defence and Fernando Torres up front, we'd be in the top half now!
"But we can still get to 40 points, so why give up when we don't need to?"
City moved to within four points of seventh position, and European qualification, with this victory and Hughes insists that seventh remains within grasp.
He said: "We still have to go to Spurs, so will probably have to win that one, but we will keep going for seventh spot. There are only four points between us and seventh."
Ensuring that Elano and Robinho maintain their recent return to form will be key to City's European hopes, however, so it is hardly surprising that both received the cotton-wool treatment from Hughes in this game. The manager now just needs to get the supporters on message.
