Dunne howler costs City

Richard Dunne's calamitous own goal gave West Brom an unlikely point.

Kevin Keegan said on Monday that there are no easy games in The Premiership. He was wrong, because this was one, and his side contrived to draw it 1-1 with 10-man West Bromwich Albion.

City keeper David James was as much a spectator as his manager and had not so much as dirtied his knees when Richard Dunne nudged the ball past him and into his own net with just five minutes remaining, to give The Baggies the most unlikely of points.

Albion had been awful and boss Bryan Robson's decision to bring on Rob Hulse instead of Robert Earnshaw 15 minutes from time was greeted with howls of derision from their supporters. Earnshaw did eventually come on, and it was his presence that helped to bring about Dunne's mistake.

City dominated throughout and created enough chances to have won comfortably, but they were kept at bay by the brilliance of Russell Hoult and the resilience of an Albion back-line which lost Thomas Gaardsoe to a red card after just 17 minutes.

The Danish defender hauled down Robbie Fowler on the edge of the area after the City man had been released by an exquisite pass from Shaun Wright-Phillips, giving referee Andy D'Urso little option but to send him off.

Nicolas Anelka fired the resulting free kick a foot too high, but 15 minutes later he readjusted his radar and curled a delightful effort into the top corner from a similar position to give his side the lead.

Keegan then watched in stoney-faced silence as his team set about squandering a succession of chances to wrap up the game. It's a familiar feeling for the City boss, who has seen his side drop points at home to Fulham, Norwich and Blackburn despite having led.

Hoult produced a fine save to touch aside Antoine Sibierski's close range shot after Anelka's clever pass had released him in the area, before Sylvain Distin headed narrowly wide from the resulting corner.

City continued to pin their opponents back after the break, but once again Hoult was in their way, saving superbly from Wright-Phillips and Fowler, who was denied once again just moments after Albion's equaliser when Hoult palmed away his blistering volley.

Danny Mills and Joey Barton shot off target, Sibierski headed away from goal from eight yards and Anelka hit Wright-Phillips with a shot from six yards as Albion refused to buckle. Fowler then failed to connect with a volley from 14 yards when he was left unchallenged in the area.

It seemed only a matter of time before a City player would find the net again and so it proved, with Dunne levelling for Albion when they had proved incapable of carving out a single opportunity for themselves.

Team Name	Manchester City	West Bromwich Albion
Goals	1	1
Shots on target	4	0
Shots off Target	7	0
Blocked Shots	0	0
Corners Won	11	0
Total Fouls Conceded	8	11
Offsides	4	4
Yellow Cards	0	0
Red Cards	0	1
Possession	58%	41%