Manchester City come from behind to draw 2-2 with Sunderland

Manchester City suffered a serious blow to their Premier League title ambitions as they were held to a draw by bottom club Sunderland.

City gained a second-minute lead with Fernandinho’s powerful effort, but went behind as Connor Wickham scored twice in quick succession after the break.

With two minutes left, Black Cats goalkeeper Vito Mannone fumbled Samir Nasri’s fierce strike into his own net.

City are six points behind leaders Liverpool and four behind Chelsea, after Mannone agonisingly let Nasri’s shot slip out of his grasp.

Nasri then went close to snatching a winner in the 90th minute, but his anguished reaction showed how his team’s prospects have now changed.

City’s hopes of repeating their Premier League success of 2012 now rely on both Liverpool and Chelsea slipping up during the final weeks of the season.

The draw was just as unsatisfactory for Sunderland, who were the better team for large periods of the game, and missed out on a chance to further close the gap on their relegation rivals.

“There were a lot of things missing from the team today,” said Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini. 

“I think the most important thing is we could not take out of our minds the game against Liverpool.”

However, despite admitting a draw has done their campaign more harm than good, Pellegrini is not willing to rule City out of the title race yet.

“We are in a worse position but there are still mathematical chances and we will fight to the end,” he vowed.