Premier League: Manchester City 1 Fulham 1

Fulham manager Mark Hughes exacted a small amount of revenge for his Eastlands sacking with a draw against Champions League chasing Manchester City.

The Welshman, who was dumped by the Blues 14 months ago, saw his side fight back to earn a point and ease their relegation worries.

Mario Balotelli had given City the lead with a superb strike midway through the first half but Damien Duff finished off a neat Fulham move just after the break.

The Blues were short of creativity with playmaker David Silva ruled out with an ankle injury along with defender Vincent Kompany.

Roberto Mancini retained the three-pronged attack of Carlos Tevez, Balotelli and Edin Dzeko but they received little supply.

The Blues had plenty of early possession but struggled to break the Cottagers down with Balotelli going closest but failing to hit the target from two Aleksander Kolarov corners.

Fulham responded with two long-range efforts – Danny Murphy blasting just over the bar before Moussa Dembele brought a comfortable diving save from Joe Hart.

But the breakthrough came in the 26th minute when Balotelli exchanged passes with Tevez before shrugging off Murphy to fire a low 22-yard drive past Mark Schwarzer, which even drew a mini arms-wide celebration from the Italian.

Fulham pulled level two minutes after the break when Andy Johnson found space down the right and fired in a low cross that Duff tapped in at the far post.

Balotelli should have put City back in front five minutes later but fluffed his shot wide from six yards after Pablo Zabaleta’s pull-back.

Tevez then scuffed another chance that Schwarzer tipped wide before Kolarov brought another good save from the Australian with a dipping volley from 20 yards.

Fulham almost stole all three points late on but Clint Dempsey’s header was off target.