Tevez and Adebayor seal it for City

Carlos Tevez drove home the game's opening goal – his 19th of the season – from the spot just after the half hour at Eastlands after impressive new boy Adam Johnson had drawn a rash and needless challenge from Paul Robinson.

Emmanuel Adebayor sealed matters with a brilliant piece of second-half skill, controlling a pass from home debutant Patrick Vieira on his chest before thumping an unstoppable volley past Jussi Jaaskelainen in the 73rd minute.

At 33, it is felt by many Vieira's best days are behind him. Yet the Frenchman bristles at such suggestions and reacted with a curt "am I that old?" when he was asked after the game whether he would need a rest today.

His manager Roberto Mancini can see Vieira's point and thinks the midfielder can follow his own example and play on into his thirties. "I played until I was 36 and I was still playing well," countered the Italian. "I won the Scudetto at that age, so I see no reason why Patrick can't carry on as well."

There was late drama at Fratton Park as ten-man Portsmouth equalised deep into stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw against nine-man Sunderland. A controversial early penalty from Darren Bent had looked to have secured all three points for the Wearsiders and heaped further misery on the bottom club. Bent netted early on from the penalty spot after Ricardo Rocha was adjudged to have brought him down, with the Pompey defender eventually sent off after Hassan Yebda was initially mistakenly dismissed.

But the numbers were evened up nine minutes into the second half when Black Cats midfielder Lee Cattermole was sent off for a second bookable offence and the visitors were further depleted three minutes from time when David Meyler saw red just moments after coming on for clattering into Steve Finnan. Aruna Dindane then headed home Jamie O'Hara's cross to provide something to cheer for Pompey fans, with the club facing a winding-up petition in the High Court today.

Fulham climbed to ninth and left Burnley still looking for their first away win of the season by triumphing 3-0 over the Clarets at Craven Cottage.

First-half goals from Danny Murphy and David Elm poured on the agony for Brian Laws' side as the visitors found themselves outplayed from the start.

Bobby Zamora ended any hopes Burnley had of producing a comeback by notching his side's third goal from a free-kick nine minutes after the interval.

In last night's other match, Wigan Athletic and Stoke City battled out a 1-1 draw at the DW Stadium.

Paul Scharner's early header put Roberto Martinez's Latics in the ascendancy but an equally fine second-half header from Tuncay Sanli secured the Potters a share of the spoils.

Gianfranco Zola has taken a swipe at West Ham owners David Sullivan and David Gold after they revealed they wanted all the club's staff to take a pay cut.

The Hammers manager is angry that the revelation came via the media little more than 24 hours before the team take on Birmingham at St Andrew's in a vital Premier League encounter tonight. Zola said: "I am a person of principles and I am not going to allow anybody to walk on my principles."

It is thought the manager and players, along with other club staff, will be asked to take a 25 per cent cut in the summer to slash the club's 60million wage bill.