Manchester City manager Mark Hughes said the performance of Robinho after a tumultuous week showed plenty of character.
"I had no qualms really," said Hughes. "He was fully focused and looking ahead to the game.
"Mentally he was in the right place, he was concentrating on the job in hand and it was never any real doubt for me that he should play.
"The good thing was he played an intelligent ball to release Shaun Wright-Phillips for our first goal."