Stephen Ireland put a season of controversy behind him with a Bonfire Night sparkler to preserve Manchester City´s 100% home record with a 1-0 victory over Sunderland.
The midfielder has endured a difficult couple of months amid a much-publicised withdrawal from Republic of Ireland duty, when he was found to have lied about the death of both his grandmothers to hide the fact his partner had suffered a miscarriage.
Clearly though, Ireland´s troubles have had no effect on his performances for City and the 21-year-old signalled his well-being by thunderously dispatching Darius Vassell´s cross through Craig Gordon´s legs to send Sven-Goran Eriksson´s men soaring back into the top three and leave them just two points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
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