Zabaleta forces Kaka to share limelight at City

Manchester City supporters may be eagerly anticipating the arrival of Kaka but Pablo Zabaleta has offered a reminder of the Latin American quality already on the books at Eastlands.

The Argentina fullback claimed his first goal since signing from Espanyol at the start of the season with a superb 25-yard strike to earn City a much-needed 1-0 win over Wigan on Saturday.

It was only City’s second win in 10 league and cup outings and it was achieved the hard way after captain Richard Dunne was shown a straight record card early in the second half for lashing out at Wigan’s Egyptian striker Amr Zaki.

City boss Mark Hughes saluted his players afterwards and revealed it had been a difficult week with the constant speculation surrounding Kaka’s proposed move.

“From our point of view our focus was totally on the game albeit that it has been a difficult week for everyone,” added Hughes.

“I thought we really stuck to our task and we dug in and beat a side that is arguably in the best run of form of anyone in the Premier League. We got the job done.”

Hughes added that he could not condone Dunne’s rash conduct. “Richard has held his hand up. He has reacted to a challenge. It was the second time that Zaki had caught him across the face. He has retaliated and the referee has seen it. We accept that.”

Wigan manager Steve Bruce hinted afterwards that City had joined the race to sign his Honduras midfielder Wilson Palacios.

The player was set to join Tottenham for 14 million pounds but has also been linked with Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

“Another club has joined the chase for him,” said Bruce. “We’ll see what develops over the next two or three days. “It’s not Manchester United and it’s not a foreign club. The club in question isn’t a million miles from here!”

Hughes admitted he was an admirer of Palacios but denied he had tabled a bid for the 24-year-old. “I saw him in midweek against Manchester United and I thought he was excellent. He is a good player,” the City boss said.

“There’s always a suggestion that we are interested in signing good players. We try not to discuss players we haven’t made bids for. That’s the situation with Palacios.”

Bruce could not hide his disappointment with Zaki after his leading scorer missed an open goal in the closing stages of the game.

“We have missed a glorious chance to get an equaliser,” Bruce said. “I think Zaki will be appearing in one of those videos that come out at Christmas.”