Captain's display from Dunne eases pressure on City

A true captain's performance from Richard Dunne, pictured May 2006, helped Manchester City to a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough that earns the club's under-fire manager Stuart Pearce some badly-needed breathing space.

A true captain's performance from Richard Dunne helped Manchester City to a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough that earns the club's under-fire manager Stuart Pearce some badly-needed breathing space.

Dunne's first-half header delivered the three points and the Irish defender marshalled City's defence with an authority that was conspicuous by its absence as Pearce's side went down to a 4-0 defeat at Wigan on their last Premiership outing.

That performance was condemned as "embarrassing" by the club's chairman, John Wardle, prompting a sharp fall in the odds against Pearce becoming the top flight's next managerial casualty.

The former England defender had insisted he was not feeling under pressure but there was no disguising his relief at the final whistle after his side had secured their third win of the season, a result which lifts them to 13th in the table, with a six-point cushion between them and the relegation zone.

Pearce had reacted to the Wigan debacle by making five changes to his line-up, with Ben Thatcher restored to the starting XI at the first opportunity following the completion of an eight-match ban for a wild challenge on Tottenham's Pedro Mendes.

Paul Dickov was also back in the frame and the former Scotland striker had City's first real chance, running on to Joey Barton's chip. Dickov beat Boro 'keeper Mark Schwarzer to the ball but was unable to hit the target.

Two minutes later, City took the lead from a corner that Barton swung over to the back post, where Dunne rose to head home.

City might have had a penalty just after the interval when a Barton shot appeared to strike Boro's German defender Robert Huth on the arm.

The home support will have felt hard done by over that decision but City rode their luck in the closing stages when Boro substitute Massimo Maccarone saw two shots strike the post in quick succession.