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Manchester City claimed their first away win in the Premier League since August after they beat Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park.

Goals from Robinho and Stephen Ireland were enough to defeat an Everton side that played the last half an hour with 10 men due to Phil Jagielka's injury soon after all three substitutes had been used.

Substitute Dan Gosling scored in one of the seven minutes of stoppage time caused by Jagielka's injury, which appeared to be a potentially serious knee problem, but Everton could not salvage a point for David Moyes on their manager's 46th birthday.

A swift break on 35 minutes saw Robinho forced wide by Jagielka, but the Brazilian fired a precise finish through the legs of goalkeeper Tim Howard to give City the lead.

City's break for that goal came following an Everton free-kick. Marouane Fellaini claimed he was impeded by a City defender as a free-kick was fired in from deep, but referee Alan Wiley allowed play to continue and Robinho capitalised by scoring his 13th league goal of the season.

Ireland doubled his side's lead soon after the break when Robinho found him in plenty of space, and the Irishman's first touch set him up for a simple finish past Howard to send City on their way to their first win on the road since winning 3-0 at Sunderland last summer.

The defeat meant that Everton spurned their chance to move up to fifth in the league, but a more pressing concern for Moyes is the injury the first-choice defender Jagielka.

Just before the hour mark, Moyes made a triple substitution, bringing on Tim Cahill, James Vaughan and Dan Gosling as Everton chased the game.

Cruelly, just moments later Jagielka landed awkwardly with no other players near him, and appeared in agony as he stayed on the ground. The nature of the injury means the England defender may well miss the FA Cup final.

Up until the opening goal, Everton had enjoyed the majority of the possession, although it was the visitors who created more chances.

Elano had a shot blocked and the rebound fell to Robinho, only for Howard to beat the well-struck shot away with a good reaction save.

Ireland was played into the box by Robinho, only for the impressive Leighton Baines to deny the Irishman with a well-timed sliding tackle.

Baines also contributed plenty to his side's attacks, linking up well on the left wing with Steven Pienaar. On one occasion he cut inside of Micah Richards and set Fellaini up for the shot from the edge of the area, but the Belgian completely miscued his shot and Louis Saha could not react quickly enough to steer the ball on target.

The second-half saw a stunning save from City keeper Shay Given, who reacted well when Fellaini teed himself up for a volley on the edge of the six-yard area, only for the Irish keeper to palm the shot over the bar.

Jagielka headed an effort over Given's bar not long before his withdrawal, and following that there was a nasty spell in which several players squared up to each other.

Referee Alan Wiley handed bookings to Phil Neville, Nedum Onuoha and Gelson Fernandes for their indiscipline, and drew boos from the home crowd at the final whistle for turning down several Everton penalty appeals.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport