Johannesburg, Apr 17 - Manchester City was held to a 2-2 draw at home to bottom-ranked side Sunderland, denting their Premier League title hopes after the clash on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium.

The result left City, which was bidding to close to within four points of Liverpool in the first of their two games in hand, six points below Brendan Rogers' side in third place and although City still have a game in hand, the title is inching ever closer to Anfield.

According to Sport24, Fernandinho's 2nd-minute goal put City on track, but after Connor Wickham scored twice in the last 17 minutes, the hosts needed a fortuitous 88th-minute equaliser from Samir Nasri just to rescue a point.

City were without injured midfielder Yaya Toure, but top scorer Sergio Aguero returned to their starting line-up alongside Alvaro Negredo as boss Manuel Pellegrini made five changes to the team that lost at Liverpool, the report added. (ANI)