Man City 1, Tottenham 2: Hughes hoping for slice of luck

HOW Mark Hughes must yearn for just a modicum of the luck which Harry Redknapp has enjoyed since taking charge at Tottenham Hotspur.

While Redknapp can do no wrong - Spurs have collected 10 points from a possible 12 since his appointment to move out of the relegation places - it is the complete opposite for City who crashed to a third successive Premier League defeat.

They have also collected only a meagre four points from a possible 21 after another afternoon of woe when City ended up with nine men after having Gelson Fernandes sent off with over an hour remaining and captain Richard Dunne in the dying minutes.

Dunne had earlier made what is becoming a weekly blunder as he was badly at fault for Spurs’ equalising goal.

“It is not easy to get positive results when things start to conspire against you. We have had penalties and sendings off against us in key times which have affected the outcome of games,” explained City boss Hughes.

Despite the positive vibes which are still emanating from Eastlands, there must surely be concern about City’s current wretched run of form as they have slipped to 13th place and they are only one point clear of the bottom three clubs.

It ought to make for an interesting trip to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East for Hughes this week to meet City’s mega-rich new owner.

Hughes remains upbeat, saying until Fernandes’ 26th minute dismissal they were in control of the game adding it is difficult enough to win Premier League games with a full complement without being reduced numerically.

He said: “The key for me was the response from the players in the second half as they stuck at it under difficult circumstances.

“And even the disappointment of going 2-1 behind didn’t affect them and a lot of the qualities we showed were reassuring from my point of view.

“It would have been very easy for them to decide that fate was going to play a hand and there was nothing down for them, but they were not prepared to do that.”

The afternoon could not have got off to a better start after Robinho scored his eighth goal for City in the 16th minute, an easy finish after keeper Heurelho Gomes could only parry an angled drive from Darius Vassell into his path.

It soon began to go pear-shaped, however, when Fernandes was sent off midway through the half for collecting two bookings in the space of eight minutes.

And before Hughes rejigged his midfield by bringing on Dietmar Hamann for Vassell, Spurs were on level terms.

Dunne failed to cut out a Luka Modric through ball, which ought to have been elementary, as Darren Bent raced through to score with a cool finish.

And it was a revitalised Bent who struck the winning goal midway through the second half, his fifth goal in three days after his UEFA Cup hat trick on Thursday night.

Suddenly Bent, labelled a flop after the awful start to his Spurs career following a £17million move from Charlton, can do no wrong as he now has 11 goals for the campaign.

The winner was another precise finish after being set up by Jermaine Jenas as he found the net with an angled drive which went in off the far upright.

City had to be commended for their battling qualities and, but for two fine saves by the under-fire Gomes to deny Robinho and Stephen Ireland, City would have been back on level terms.

But any hope they had of salvaging a draw was extinguished by Dunne’s dismissal after 83 minutes following a trip on Bent as he burst through on goal.

It ended up nine against 10 as Spurs had left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto sent off in stoppage time after collecting two yellow cards in the second period.

Incredibly, there have been six dismissals in City’s six home league games this season.