Frank Lampard was the hero for Manchester City as he struck a late volley to give them a 1-1 draw at the Etihad with former side, Chelsea.
The 36-year-old is a legend in west London after scoring 211 times in 648 appearances for the club over 13 seasons before leaving in the summer on a free transfer.
He was the villain in Manchester in their eyes this time though as he pounced with his trademark precision timing to slip home his first goal for his new club and deny Chelsea their fifth win in five Premier League games.
It had looked like Jose Mourinho’s men would continue their impressive start to the season when Andre Schurrle scored with 19 minutes remaining and the hosts a man down following a Pablo Zabaleta red card.
But Lampard, Chelsea’s record goalscorer, was in the right place at the right time to give Manuel Pellegrini’s side a share of the spoils.
It had been an intriguing matchup as the two teams appeared to cancel each other out with some resolute defending, which meant there weren’t many clear cut scoring opportunities.
Yaya Toure, who has looked off the pace in recent weeks, seemed to have perked up with a couple of forays forward as Man City dominated possession, while Vincent Kompany and Diego Costa enjoyed tussling with each other.
Chelsea did have a penalty shout turned down just after the half-hour mark but Mike Dean waved play on when they felt Toure had handled in the penalty area.
And they nearly broke the deadlock moments later as Branislav Ivanovic’s header strayed into Costa’s path, but Fernandinho was able to poke the ball away from his toe.
In a game which saw several cautions, David Silva was lucky not to see a red card brandished in his direction prior to the break when he cut down Willian having already received a yellow card.
While, in defence, Eliaquim Mangala performed well on his Premier League debut for the Citizens and excellently snuffed out an Eden Hazard counter attack after the break thanks to his exceptional pace.
But, for both teams, it was the final ball which was lacking with untidy passes halting promising attacks.
Fernandinho did hammer wide a 20-yard strike as the game wore on and, as Manchester City piled on the pressure, Thibaut Courtois denied Sergio Aguero before Ramires heroically put his body on the line to disturb Edin Dzeko, who went for the rebound.
Man City though were handed a cruel blow as Zabaleta was sent off for a second bookable offence following a tangle with Costa but his first caution was undeserved.
And substitute Schurrle promptly dispatched Hazard’s teasing cross from close range after 71 minutes as Joe Hart dived despairingly along his line in vain.
It nearly got worse for Pellegrini’s side but, with Hart wrong-footed by a deflection, Costa’s shot kindly kissed the post before being cleared to safety.
And, almost inevitably, Lampard, on as a sub for Aleksandar Kolarov scuffed home a volley from James Milner’s cross to hand his new side a share of the spoils.
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