Chelsea legend Frank Lampard was on hand to score a late equaliser and earn 10-man Manchester City a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the while lowly Crystal Palace came from a goal down to shock Everton with a 3-2 win at Goodison Park.
The Etihad Stadium was the venue for the Premier League clash between the reigning champions Man. City and league leaders Chelsea, with City looking to avoid a repeat of last season’s matches between both sides which were won by the Blues.
And it was City that dominated proceedings early on, keeping the visitors from seeing much of the ball while also probing for a goal albeit without success while Chelsea came close to taking the lead on the stroke of half-time but Diego Costa was unable to reach a ball off Ivanovic’s header towards the danger area.
City continued to dominate play in the second half, with Sergio Agüero forcing Thibaut Courtois to a low save in the 56th minute though the outlook of the match changed 10 minutes later when Pablo Zabaleta got sent off after an altercation with Diego Costa.
The man advantage was made to count in Chelsea’s favour five minutes later when a swift counterattack saw substitute Andre Schürrle get on the end of a ball in from Eden Hazard to tap home from close range.
Costa twice came close to doubling Chelsea’s lead late on, heading straight to City goalkeeper Joe Hart four minutes after Schürrle’s opener, before being denied by the post with nine minutes left to play.
Costa’s missed chances would be rued with five minutes to go in the most anticlimatic manner as Lampard drilled home a first-time volley past Courtois to level for City, refusing to celebrate afterwards.
The match opened up following Lampard’s strike but both sides settled for a draw which extended Chelsea’s lead at the top to three points while City has now gone three matches without a win and is now five points behind the Blues in sixth place.
Meanwhile at Goodison Park, Crystal Palace capitalised on mistakes from Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard to claim a first league win of the season that took the Londoners out of the relegation zone to 15th spot, behind Everton on goal difference.
Record signing Romelu Lukaku gave Everton a ninth minute lead, getting on to a Leon Osman through ball and beating Speroni with a low shot.
Osman shot straight at Speroni in the 29th minute and a minute later, Palace levelled scores through Mile Jedinak’s penalty after Howard brought down James McArthur who took advantage of a defensive mix-up between Howard and two Everton players.
The visitors nearly took the lead just before half-time only for Yannick Bolasie to be denied by the post and crossbar.
Palace though would eventuall take the lead 10 minutes into the second half when Fraizer Campbell headed into an empty goal after beating Howard to a Martin Kely cross.
Lukaku had an effort cleared off the line as Everton siught a way back into the match, but it would be Palace that got a third goal when Bolasie finished off after Jason Puncheon dispossessed Osman.
A late penalty by Leighton Baines ensured a tense final minutes but Palace held on to claim the win.