Source: Daily_Mail
Manchester City 1 Sunderland 0:
Sunderland remain in the thick of the desperate struggle to escaperelegation from the Barclays Premier League after the bravery of their10 men went unrewarded as Manchester City.[LNB]Micah Richards' second-half header proved enough, with goalkeeperMarton Fulop preventing City increasing their advantage with a stringof fine saves near the end in addition to a Robinho penalty save.[LNB]But try as Sunderland might, they were always in trouble onceGeorge McCartney had been red carded for a professional foul on ShaunWright-Phillips after just 15 minutes.[LNB] Head boy: Micah Richards (second right) scores past Sunderland keeper Marton Fulop[LNB][LNB]And, just three points above local rivals Newcastle, who occupythat nightmare spot of third bottom, the Black Cats are certainly inneed of some good fortune.[LNB]The dogfight at the bottom has been so tight for so long, Sunderland have always felt they were in the thick of it.[LNB]Nevertheless, they adopted a refreshingly offensive approach, basedaround the tireless work of Kenwyne Jones, hoping to profit from aninjury-hit City side lacking Stephen Ireland and Wayne Bridge.[LNB][LNB]Just to reinforce the feeling of change, Valeri Bojinov was alsoincluded in a Blues starting line-up for the first time since August2007, the intervening period filled with injury and misery for theBulgarian, once the youngest foreigner ever to star in Serie A.[LNB]Bojinov made a pleasing contribution in an open encounter beforethe whole dynamic of the game was changed in a mad three-minute spellas the quarter of an hour mark was reached.[LNB]Wright-Phillips had definitely got in front of McCartney in thechase to reach Elano's through ball. There was little doubt either theEngland winger would have been clean through.[LNB] Centre of attention: Richards is mobbed by team-mates after his goal[LNB][LNB]Of more debate, certainly as far as Sunderland were concerned wasthe strength of the contact that forced Wright-Phillips to pull up asFulop came to collect.[LNB]Referee Steve Tanner felt it was enough to merit a foul. It took assistant Mo Matadar to confirm the need for a red card.[LNB]Although Bojinov curled the free-kick over, City were presentedwith an even better opportunity to exploit their extra man on theirnext attack when Steed Malbranque upended Micah Richards, who had burstforward on the overlap.[LNB]For a player of Robinho's class, confidence should not be a problem in such situations.[LNB]But his trademark shuffle as he strode up, put doubt only in hismind. The shot that followed was weak and Fulop, a conclusive winner ofthat mind-game battle, made the easiest of saves.[LNB]After such a frenzy of incident, the game took a bit of time todraw breath. Yet Sunderland were not content just to sit back and soakup pressure.[LNB]If Jones' admirable industry had been matched by a bit moreprecision from his team-mates, the Black Cats might have presentedtheir hosts with a stern examination.[LNB]Instead, City carried most of the attacking threat even if, asidefrom Robinho's penalty, they created nothing better against 10 men thanthey had done when Wright-Phillips had ended a splendid one touch moveby lobbing narrowly wide when Sunderland still had the full complimenton the field.[LNB]The onus was clearly on the hosts to attack and Richards decided it was time to take centre stage.[LNB]Good enough to become the youngest defender in England history andwin 11 caps during Steve McClaren's ill-fated reign, Richards has losthis way over the past 18 months, so much so that thoughts of going to aWorld Cup under Fabio Capello seem pretty remote.[LNB]But the defender is still only 20 and now slotted back into theright-back position McClaren used to favour, the youngster roaredforward with gusto, as if Sunderland were the team to take all hisfrustration out on.[LNB]Opportunities created for Wright-Phillips and Elano were bothsquandered - the former woefully, the latter agonisingly as a delicateflick rolled wide - so it was just as well Richards had found the nethimself, rising to guide Elano's free-kick over the line just beforeRobinho could prod home.[LNB]It was his first goal for two-and-a-half seasons and only thethird of a career that was launched with an 'F-word reaction' to a lastminute FA Cup equaliser in only his fourth game at Aston Villa inFebruary 2006.[LNB]Unfortunately for Richards, his day ended early as he limped offwith what appeared to be a hamstring injury, which cast a cloud on anotherwise impressive day.[LNB][LNB]
