LONDON, Nov 10: Manchester City manager Mark Hughes faces a difficult meeting with the club’s new owners in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after two goals from Darren Bent and red cards for Gelson Fernandes and Richard Dunne saw Tottenham Hotspur emerge with a 2-1 English Premier League win at Eastlands on Sunday.

Robinho’s first-half opener had put City ahead, but Bent’s goals and the dismissals of Fernandes, Dunne and Spurs defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto completed an incredible game.

City manager Hughes woke to English tabloid stories suggesting that Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson – a former Manchester United team-mate of Hughes and, more pertinently, the son of Old Trafford boss Sir Alex – was being lined up by City’s board to replace Hughes.

Such wild speculation is unlikely to unsettle Hughes, one of football’s more grounded characters, but he will no doubt have been aware of the need for an impressive performance from his team ahead of his trip to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Hughes is due to meet chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak and owner Sheikh Mansour to discuss transfer targets and their respective blueprints for the club, but making the trip to the Middle East with City on the precipice of the relegation zone won’t make for a comfortable flight.

Hughes would have been looking forward to the trip rather more when Robinho opened the scoring on 16 minutes with his seventh goal in nine league games for the club.

The Brazilian scored a hat-trick in his last league outing at Eastlands and he maintained his goal streak when he pounced from 10 yards after Heurelho Gomes had saved Darius Vassell’s shot.City appeared to be in control, but their game-plan fell apart when holding midfielder Gelson was sent off on 26 minutes following two bookings for fouls on Luka Modric and David Bentley.

With a one-man advantage, Spurs sensed a route back into the game and City goalkeeper Joe Hart had to produce a fine save to deny Modric an equaliser from close range on 28 minutes.

Seconds later, though, Bent hauled Spurs level when he made the most of a terrible mistake by City captain Richard Dunne.

Dunne missed the ball completely when he attempted to clear Modric’s long pass and Bent latched onto the ball before nervelessly slotting under the exposed Hart.

City were now faced with having to contain Spurs for another hour with the disadvantage of being a man short and, defensively fragile as they are, that was never going to be easy.

And it was no surprise when Bent claimed his second to put Spurs in control on 64 minutes.

Tom Huddlestone’s raking pass found Jermaine Jenas on the edge of the penalty area and the midfielder held off Dunne before laying off for Bent to guide the ball into the net off the far post.

City, facing a fifth defeat in seven league games, went in search of an equaliser, but Benjani Mwaruwari headed a good chance wide before Gomes saved well from Stephen Ireland at the near post.

Dunne’s dismissal on 83 minutes for fouling Bent was hard to argue against and referee Mike Dean was also seemingly correct when he dismissed Assou-Ekotto for a second booking on 89 minutes.

But the recriminations of a game that resulted in three red cards are likely to run for quite a while.

Aston Villa could have gone above Manchester United into the top four but lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough for whom Tuncay Sanli scored an 88th-minute winner.

Newcastle United are back in the bottom three after losing 2-1 at Fulham. Danny Murphy slotted the winner from the penalty spot to take Fulham up nine places to 10th.

Results:

Played on Sunday:

Aston Villa 1 Middlesbrough 2

Manchester City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

Fulham 2 Newcastle United 1

Blackburn Rovers 0 Chelsea 2—Agencies