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Micah Richards headed the only goal as Manchester City beat 10-man Sunderland 1-0 at Eastlands, although City should have won by many more.

Sunderland defender George McCartney was sent off for a professional foul early in the first half after pulling back Shaun Wright-Phillips, while referee Steve Tanner also showed eight yellow cards.

Robinho saw a poor penalty saved by Marton Fulop and City missed a host of other chances, but Sunderland failed to make their hosts pay and City leapfrog Tottenham to go 10th in the Premier League table.

City's fine home form this season has kept them in with an outside chance of qualifying for the inaugural UEFA Europa League - the new name for the UEFA Cup - and they were quickly into their stride.

Shaun Wright-Phillips sounded a couple of early warning shots before he was played clean through over the top on eight minutes, lobbed Fulop and watched, agonised, as the ball dropped inches wide of the right-hand post.

Sunderland's offside trap was in tatters, and the pacy Wright-Phillips exploited the defensive chaos five minutes later when he raced onto another through-ball.

George McCartney hauled the winger down and, perhaps harshly, Tanner sent the left-back off.

Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia immediately brought on defender Calum Davenport for striker Daryl Murphy as the visitors attempted to keep City at bay.

They were highly unsuccessful in this venture - within five minutes Steed Malbranque brought Richards down clumsily for a clear penalty.

Valeri Bojinov, and Phil Bardsley were booked following a contretemps in the box but not Malbranque, despite the crude nature of his foul.

But Robinho let Sunderland off the hook with a truly awful penalty. He paused an age on the final step of his run-up before passing the ball weakly to the left of Fulop, who made an easy save.

Elano, Bojinov and Wright-Phillips squandered presentable first-half chances for City, while at the other end the visitors were limited to a Kenwyne Jones volley and Grant Leadbitter's free-kick into the wall.

The second half began in much the same vein, as City toiled to break down the visitors in front of an increasingly agitated crowd.

Wright-Phillips was guilty of a particularly bad miss, skying the ball over after a pull-back from the excellent Richards.

It was Richards himself who made the breakthrough three minutes before the hour mark, heading home an Elano free-kick. Robinho got a final touch at the far post but the ball had already crossed the line.

Disappointing Brazilian duo Robinho and Elano both failed to add to City's lead, adding further glaring misses to profligate displays.

Sunderland nearly scraped an equaliser with six minutes to go, as Nigel De Jong was forced to volley behind his own goal with the ball bobbling around the box.

Alex Chick / Eurosport