Manchester City failed to bounce back from their weekend
disappointment that based on a 2-2 draw against Sunderland on Wednesday .
3-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday gave the Anfield outfit the upper hand in the race for the Premier League title and the city seemed poised to rebound in the best possible way to the Etihad Stadium against Sunderland underside when Fernandinho opened the scoring in the second minute.
However, the hosts failed to capitalize on their advantage and Connor Wickham charged in the 73rd minute when he stole home a cross Emanuele Giaccherini .
And Wickham - reminiscent of a loan period at Leeds United last month - silenced the home crowd by burying an effort in the right bottom corner in the 83rd minute.
But Samir Nasri had the last word as his drilled two minutes from time effort was spilled by goalkeeper Vito Mannone Sunderland before trickling over the line to win a point in the city .
Failure to seal the victory sees City languish six points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand , while a well-deserved share of the spoils for the Sunderland raises six points of safety - again with a game in hand on teams above them .
City needed a response after their defeat in the Merseyside and it came in emphatic fashion, with two of the five additions Manuel Pellegrini at the starting lineup heavily involved in the accumulation side of the house went to the front within two minutes .
Sergio Aguero slid the ball to Alvaro Negredo , the dummy on the edge of the penalty area completely fooled defender Wes Brown - scorer of the own goal which led to a 1-0 defeat of his team against Everton on Saturday - and Fernandinho made no mistake by tightening its strike between Mannone and the right post.
Former Manchester United defender John O'Shea has increased as well to meet a free kick Adam Johnson on the right flank four minutes later , but the Irish lost time by heading harmlessly wide of the target, before nodding a another effort little above the crossbar.
City could have doubled their advantage when Fernandinho dug a volley over the crossbar 11 minutes, but Sunderland were pressing well and perhaps drew level eight minutes later Fabio Borini had been less selfish and square to a teammate rather than go for goal himself from a narrow angle .
Despite the early breakthrough, the city was struggling to impose on their modest opponents.
Aguero was lucky to avoid serious injury following a dangerous tackle by Brown and Argentina had dismissed calls for a penalty before the break after going down under the challenge of O'Shea .
Stevan Jovetic deputy tried to put the ball past Mannone shortly after the hour mark , but his shot was tame and comfortably gathered by the Italian.
Joe Hart had to do much at the other end after 72 minutes when Jack Colback was found by one-to- one, but Wickham then had the game on its head , he knocked home the cross Giaccherini before shooting an unstoppable effort into the bottom right corner of the deal as City hand corner hoping for a second blow in the space of four days.
However, the end of Nasri strike caused the error Mannone to win the city a point before the French blown over the bar soon after.
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