Hughes saved on Rovers return

Man City scored twice in the final minutes to earn a 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers.

Sturridge and Robinho earn late comeback at Ewood Park

Manchester City scored twice in the final minutes to earn a 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers and save manager Mark Hughes' blushes on his return to Ewood Park. Hughes ended a four-year spell with Rovers to take over at City in the summer and he made his first visit to Ewood Park under pressure following an unconvincing start with his current club. And things appeared even worse for Hughes as City were made to pay for missed chances as Benni McCarthy netted in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Hughes then saw City enjoy the better of the second half, but Jason Roberts doubled Rovers' lead with six minutes remaining. Substitute Daniel Sturridge gave City hope in the 88th minute when firing a volley past Paul Robinson in style. And 19-year-old Sturridge - who had entered the fray in the 71st minute - then continued his highly impressive impact as he played in Robinho to allow the Brazilian to earn a share of the spoils with seconds remaining. Felipe Caicedo's failure to snaffle a close-range opportunity in the opening minutes as he lunged at a Vincent Kompany knock-down was slightly worrying - before Robinho's miss. Even £32.5million cannot guarantee avoiding embarrassment, it seems. Britain's record signing has been a major success story for the Blues this term, even if his first half-season in England has been hit by inconsistency at times.

Faithful

Yet it seemed all he had to do was get his head to Caicedo's inswinging cross as he strode forward, entirely unmarked six yards out. However, he glanced his effort wide. It was the best chance City created during the entire opening period, even if Vincent Kompany, Stephen Ireland and Elano all had pot-shots from long-range with little success. For their part, Rovers existed on scraps, with Brett Emerton's deep crosses looking like their best route to goal. As Blackburn dropped to the foot of the table before kick-off it is presumably not the survival strategy their faithful supporters have in mind. However, it bore fruit in stoppage-time as City's sloppyness in possession offered Emerton the chance to drive the ball into the visitors' box. Roberts dug it out and McCarthy did the rest, presenting Hughes with a familiar sinking feeling as he delivered his interval team-talk. There was no immediate response from the visitors as Emerton and Andre Ooijer tested Joe Hart but Shaun Wright-Phillips then went close to levelling when his back header to Elano's deep cross bounced to safety off a post. As the first hour proved, creating chances is no problem at all to City, converting them is usually pretty straightforward as well.

Punch

It is the lack of defensive nous that is currently preventing them punching anything like their weight at present and for all the talk of Roque Santa Cruz, who missed the match for Blackburn with a calf problem, and Craig Bellamy, it is the rearguard reinforcements Hughes makes that will be crucial to City's improvement and his own job prospects. The visitors' commitment to attack and increasing desperation for a goal forced Rovers backwards. Wright-Phillips fired wide, then Robinho curled a shot into Robinson's chest from 20 yards. That Hughes then turned to Darius Vassell and Sturridge to salvage the game 20 minutes from time was a damning assessment of £19million former record signing Jo's ability to turn a game. With the pattern set, Blackburn dug themselves in and prepared to counter anything City could hit them with. Allardyce cannot have expected Rovers' goal to be threatened by one of his own players. But it was Christopher Samba's hurried clearance that whistled just wide as Robinho closed in. Wright-Phillips also threatened the Rovers goal, although by the time Sturridge breached it, Roberts had scored at the other end, capitalising on the uncertainty Samba's massive presence had caused to beat Hart with a fine header. It seemed another defeat was certain. But Robinho put the smile back on City faces with his 12th goal of the season.

Blackburn Rovers	Team Statistics	Manchester City
2	Goals	2
1	1st Half Goals	0
5	Shots on Target	3
6	Shots off Target	9
4	Blocked Shots	0
4	Corners	3
14	Fouls	11
5	Offsides	2
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
71	Passing Success	71.5
22	Tackles	23
63.6	Tackles Success	87
48.6	Possession	51.4
53.6	Territorial Advantage	46.4