Murphy scored the equaliser on 75 minutes to earn Fulham a point

Fulham 2-2 Man City

By Alistair Magowan BBC Sport

Manchester City blew a 2-0 lead as a battling Fulham fought back to rescue a point with a fine second-half showing.

Sergio Aguero scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season, first tucking in David Silva's pass before firing in just after the break.

City were dominant in the first period but Bobby Zamora shot into the top corner from Clint Dempsey's lay-off to awaken Craven Cottage on 55 minutes.

Danny Murphy equalised when his shot took a deflection off Vincent Kompany.

Roberto Mancini's side will rue a host of missed chances in the first half, not least when Mark Schwarzer saved from both Gael Clichy and Edin Dzeko.

Credit, however, must go to Fulham, who somehow shrugged off their lethargy to secure their third point of the season and double their league goals tally.

The game was a lesson for City who, following their midweek Champions League exertions, looked unable to muster the necessary energy to press for the winner after Murphy's 76th minute equaliser.

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Mancini perplexed by Fulham draw

Martin Jol's side had even less time to prepare for the game, though, following their Europa League game on Thursday. And in becoming the first Premier League side to deny City maximum points this term, Fulham will be confident the draw can kick-start their season.

Before Fulham's second-half resurgence, the game was played at a leisurely pace, but once City got a grip on possession early on they began to cut Fulham apart.

There were few chances before Aguero gave City the lead on 18 minutes, but once the 23-year-old pounced, the visitors could have trebled the margin.

The goal itself was a relatively simple affair as Gareth Barry passed to Silva on the edge of the box, and when the Spaniard fed the diminutive Argentine, he made no mistake.

While there was a suggestion of offside about the goal, Fulham had no time to dwell on it. Schwarzer tipped Clichy's shot round the post soon afterwards and then made an even better stop to deny Dzeko's shot from Silva's cutback.

Mancini had warned his team about their profligacy against Wigan last weekend, where they had a string of chances but similarly were only a goal up in the first half.

But he must have thought he could relax just 12 seconds after the re-start when Aguero pounced once again.

Clichy's long diagonal pass was nodded down by Dzeko and Aguero took one touch before firing across Schwarzer into the bottom corner.

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Fulham 'kept believing' - Jol

Then, seemingly from out of nothing, Fulham burst into life.

Zamora was given too much room as he was found by Dempsey on the edge of the box, and the England striker struck the ball cleanly as it sailed into the top corner.

All of a sudden, Fulham awoke from their slumber and Hart was twice called into action as the hosts searched for an equaliser.

First, he was at full stretch to tip Moussa Dembele's shot round the post and then he stopped Dempsey's header from a corner.

But Fulham looked a completely different side and Hart could do little about the equaliser when it came 15 minutes from the end.

Zamora laid the ball off to Murphy and his shot was deflected in-off Kompany.

Although Mancini claimed afterwards that Dzeko had been fouled in the build-up, few home fans would have been bothered as they cheered an amazing recovery.

Fulham boss Martin Jol: "We came back from the death. We had no chance in the first half but we kept believing and although the second goal was a blow, we showed a lot of character to come back and exploit our chances better than we did in the last few matches."

Lineup, Bookings (2) & Substitutions (5)

Fulham

01 Schwarzer
02 Kelly
03 JA Riise
05 Hangeland
06 Baird
04 Sidwell Booked
13 Murphy
16 Duff (Kasami - 61' )
23 Dempsey
25 Zamora
30 Dembele (Ruiz - 88' )

Substitutes

38 Etheridge
14 Senderos
26 Grygera
10 Kasami
15 Gecov
09 Sa
11 Ruiz

Manchester City

25 Hart
02 Richards
04 Kompany
06 Lescott
22 Clichy
18 Barry Booked
19 Nasri (Johnson - 81' )
21 Silva (Zabaleta - 69' )
42 Y Toure
10 Dzeko
16 Aguero (Tevez - 82' )

Substitutes

30 Pantilimon
05 Zabaleta
13 Kolarov
28 K Toure
11 Johnson
32 Tevez
45 Balotelli

Ref: Mark Clattenburg

Att: 24,750

Match Stats

Possession 43 57

Shots

14 18

On target

11 11

Corners

6 9

Fouls

10 9

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +3:25 Full time

Full Time The match has reached full-time.

90:00 +2:17

Free kick awarded for a foul by Micah Richards on Bryan Ruiz. Danny Murphy takes the free kick.

90:00 +1:46

Long range effort by Gnegneri Toure Yaya goes wide right of the target.

90:00 +0:36

A cross is delivered by Gael Clichy.

89:34

The ball is delivered by Gael Clichy, clearance by Brede Hangeland.

86:44

Shot by Carlos Tevez from outside the box goes high over the crossbar.

87:54

Brede Hangeland gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Micah Richards. Joe Hart takes the direct free kick.

87:06 Substitution

Substitution Bryan Ruiz joins the action as a substitute, replacing Moussa Dembele.

86:44

Effort on goal by Gael Clichy from outside the area goes harmlessly over the bar.

86:10

Pablo Zabaleta sends in a cross, Steve Sidwell manages to make a clearance.

85:18 Booking

Booking Steve Sidwell is shown a yellow card.

84:53

Carlos Tevez takes a shot. Blocked by Brede Hangeland.

83:25

Edin Dzeko takes a shot. Chris Baird gets a block in.

81:58 Substitution

Substitution Carlos Tevez joins the action as a substitute, replacing Sergio Aguero.

80:30 Substitution

Substitution Adam Johnson comes on in place of Samir Nasri.