Manchester City 1 Sunderland 0: Micah punishes 10-man Black Cats

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes hailed the performance of MicahRichards following the defender's match-winning header against 10-manSunderland at Eastlands.Richards has struggled badly at times over the past 18 months, during which he has lost his place in the England squad.But, now switched back to his favoured full-back berth, Richardsrevelled in the extra space on offer once George McCartney had beenred-carded for hauling back Shaun Wright-Phillips and capped a finedisplay by nodding home Elano's curling free-kick 12 minutes into thesecond period. Head boy: Micah Richards (second right) scores past Sunderland keeper Marton Fulop"Micah will get some headlines today because of the goal but there was a real determination in his play generally," said Hughes. "He made a positive impact in the opposition half."People forget he is only 20. Players have fluctuations in form atsuch a young age but he seems to be coming good at the business end ofthe season."The same cannot be said of Robinho, who endured another difficult afternoon. At £34million, the Brazilian cost City a British record transferfee on the last day of the August transfer window and until the NewYear looked well worth the investment. Manchester City 1 Sunderland 0: As it happenedMANCHESTER CITY FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NETSUNDERLAND FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NETBut he has now gone 13 games without a goal, missing a penaltyjust two minutes after McCartney was dismissed, the dismal effort savedby Marton Fulop."Robinho was confident enough to take the ball and try to score,"said Hughes, defending his player against assessments that he islacking in confidence. He wants to make a positive impact and he was disappointed not to put that one away."There were a few opportunities in the second half as well. Thedesire was there for everyone to see but he can't quite get thatcrucial goal." Centre of attention: Richards is mobbed by team-mates after his goalWith the injury that forced Richards off apparently nothing morethan a touch of cramp and Craig Bellamy introduced for half an hour asreplacement for Valeri Bojinov, who came through his first start sinceAugust 2007, Hughes should be choosing from strength as his team stepup their bid for a top seven finish after the international break.For Sunderland, a prolonged battle to escape the drop looms. While Black Cats boss Ricky Sbragia was happy enough with hisside's effort, he knew they were up against it as soon as McCartney wasdismissed.And, after watching the incident again on TV, he felt refereeSteve Tanner and assistant Mo Matadar got it wrong and should step into save McCartney from suspension."Maybe he should look at rescinding the red card," said Sbragia. "There was some sort of contact but the goalkeeper had got the ball in his hands. Taking the lead: Man City boss Mark Hughes barks the orders as his Sunderland counterpart Ricky Sbragia looks on "The referee asked the linesman a question but there was nodefinitive answer. They ummed and ahhed a bit and came up with that. Itwas the pivotal moment."Defeat leaves Sunderland just three points ahead of third-bottom Newcastle with eight matches still to play."Stoke and Portsmouth got good results yesterday, so the situation is obviously pretty tight," added Sbragia."At least we were better today than we were last week at Wigan. Ifwe had got a bit of luck with a few decisions we might have gotsomething from the game." Manchester City 1 Sunderland 0: As it happenedMANCHESTER CITY FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NETSUNDERLAND FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NET  

Source: Daily_Mail