Resilient Fulham peg back City

Manchester City gave away a two-goal lead in a pulsating 2-2 draw with Fulham at Eastlands.

Cottagers come from two down to take a point at Eastlands

Manchester City gave away a two-goal lead in a pulsating 2-2 draw with Fulham at Eastlands. An open first half saw no goals at either end but after Bobby Zamora missed a sitter early on in the second period, Fulham were made to pay. Joleon Lescott turned in his first goal in City colours moments later as the home side took the lead on 53 minutes and Martin Petrov continued his goal-scoring form seven minutes later as City mounted a two-goal cushion. The hosts looked to be cruising towards three points, but just two minutes after Petrov's strike on the hour mark Damien Duff put Fulham back in it as he punished City for lacking concentration. The comeback was compete just six minutes later as Clint Dempsey rose high to beat Lescott in the air and nod in off the post on 68 minutes. Both sides pressed for a winner, with City looking the more likely, but Fulham duly hung on for a well-deserved point. City had brought back Craig Bellamy after missing out last week with a groin strain but Petrov had the first chance for the home side when he shot over the bar on 12 minutes.

Early stages

Even in the early stages the visitors showed plenty of threat on the counter-attack with Zamora looking lively and a Dempsey run reined in by an alert Richards. Carlos Tevez came close on 17 minutes when Emmanuel Adebayor laid back the ball to the edge of the box and the Argentinian scuffed a low shot which bobbled just past Mark Schwarzer's left post. But one minute later the home side were almost caught out when Kamara burst clean through - only to seem so surprised by the lack of an offside flag that he dribbled his first touch to Given. City reacted well, Adebayor seeing penalty claims turned down after tumbling under Kelly's challenge, Kolo Toure heading over and Nigel De Jong forcing a diving save from Schwarzer. But the visitors were intent on building on their fine recent record at City, with Jonathan Greening serving a timely reminder by shooting inches wide on the half-hour. Tevez came closest for the home side in the 33rd minute when he rose unchallenged to meet Petrov's corner from the right but flashed his header onto the top of the net. Adebayor also missed by inches four minutes from the break and moments later Richards headed home a Petrov corner - only for referee Kevin Friend to blow for a foul by Barry on Chris Baird.

Zamora miss

Zamora was guilty of one of the misses of the season on 47 minutes when Dempsey's initial shot was parried by Given and the striker somehow screwed the rebound over the bar from six yards. City responded by going in front in the 53rd minute when Barry nudged a Bellamy corner across to Adebayor and his weak shot was helped over the line by Lescott. When City grabbed their second on the hour it seemed like plain sailing, Bridge feeding Petrov from the right and the midfielder curling an excellent effort past Schwarzer. But Roy Hodgson's men were far from sunk and they struck back just two minutes later when Zamora chested down a ball from Stephen Kelly and Duff shot home from the edge of the box. A remarkable game took its further bizarre twist in the 67th minute when Dempsey fired Fulham level after finding space to meet Greening's free-kick in the box. Tempers flared in the 70th minute when Dempsey fell on the edge of the City box but referee Kevin Friend waved play-on and sub Shaun Wright-Phillips streaked up-field and force a save from Schwarzer. For a time it seemed Fulham were set to repeat their comeback heroics of 2008 with Zamora shooting just wide then bringing another save from Given. City ended the game looking more likely with Barry heading just wide, but even five extra minutes of injury time could not provide Hughes with the win he desperately wanted.

Manchester City	Team Statistics	Fulham
2	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	5
11	Shots off Target	7
7	Blocked Shots	1
14	Corners	2
14	Fouls	13
3	Offsides	3
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
80.1	Passing Success	75
13	Tackles	20
69.2	Tackles Success	95
57	Possession	43
58.4	Territorial Advantage	41.6