Citizens overcome West Brom 4-2

Mark Hughes survived a tough comeback to defeat relegation threatened West Brom 4-2 at Eastlands. While the victory will be well received by City it was far from overwhelming against a side most consider without a chance to avoid the drop to the Championship. With the win the Citizens hopes for a Europa League berth are rekindled as they are only four points off the important seventh place.

At the eighth minute of the match Stephen Ireland carefully crafted the opener with a perfect diagonal cross to Robinho who left-footed volleyed the ball into the net from just outside the six-yard box. Up by one Man City looked to be heading for a walk in the park as thirteen minutes later as Elano's corner from the right was headed high by West Brom defender Abdoulaye Méïté before Nedum Onuoha powerfully nodded into the right corner. However the Samba celebrations were cooled eight minutes before the break as Chris Brunt latched onto Marc-Antoine Fortuné provision. The Northern Ireland international, Brunt, brought the match level nine minutes after the half as the Eastlands supporters further questioned why Mark Hughes was given a vote of confidence by ownership. The score-line didn't last long as moments later Elano was brought down in the box by Jonas Olsson and the spot was pointed to. Elano decided to take the ball himself and immediately slammed past Scott Carson to make it 3-2. Tony Mowbray's side continued to fight-on and created a wealth of problems for City but as time wound down young virtuoso Daniel Sturridge scored via a perfectly weighted ball by Stephen Ireland and the match concluded 4-2.

Manchester City return to action next Saturday in a crucial step in their Europa League efforts against Everton.