Manchester, England, Jan 18 (EFE).- Manchester City appeared to have earned a come-from-behind home victory in Premier League action here Saturday against Crystal Palace, but an own-goal by Fernandinho just before stoppage time left the teams knotted at 2-2 at the final whistle.

Turkish striker Cenk Tosun, who recently joined Palace from Everton and was making his first start, headed home the opener in the 39th minute after teammate Gary Cahill had nodded the ball his way off a corner kick.

Palace took a 1-0 lead into the intermission even though the Citizens had been far superior and nearly scored in the 14th minute on a free kick by Kevin De Bruyne that clanked off the crossbar.

Second-place Man City, who came into the match leading all Premier League sides with 62 goals in 22 matches, were held in check by their pesky opponent for more than an hour and then had an apparent penalty opportunity - for a hand ball in the area - ruled out by VAR in minute 72.

Sergio Aguero, however, thrilled the crowd at City of Manchester Stadium with two goals in five minutes, the first coming in minute 82 off a cross from Gabriel Jesus and the second in the 87th minute on a header off a pass from Benjamin Mendy.

The comeback seemed to be the perfect birthday present for Man City manager Pep Guardiola, who turned 49 on Saturday, but Ivorian international Wilfried Zaha made an outstanding driving run and then sent a pass from the byline that bounced off Man City midfielder Fernandinho and over the line in the 90th minute.

The draw means that the Citizens (48 points) could find themselves 16 points behind league-leading and undefeated Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday and have two games in hand, by the end of the weekend.

In other action, Tottenham's rough patch under head coach Jose Mourinho continued in a 0-0 draw against Watford at Vicarage Road.

Both teams came up with some outstanding defensive efforts to keep the game scoreless.

In the first half, Tottenham's Lucas Moura had a golden opportunity in the 38th minute but was unable to beat Watford goalie Ben Foster one-on-one near the goal.

The home team then had their best chance of the match in the 70th minute when Gerard Deulofeu won a penalty on a shot that clearly struck Tottenham central defender Jan Vertonghen's arm inside the box.

Troy Deeney's effort from the spot, however, was denied by a diving Paulo Gazzaniga.

Tottenham had one final chance to break the scoreless deadlock in second-half stoppage time on a sliding close-range shot by Erik Lamela off a cross by Serge Aurier.

But Argentine winger Ignacio Pussetto, who joined Watford just days ago and made his debut with the club on Saturday as a late substitute, cleared the ball off the line.

The draw is the latest frustrating result for Mourinho, who won four of his first five Premier League games after taking the helm of Tottenham in late November.

The eighth-place Spurs have a record of one win, three losses and two draws in the English league since then and have gone scoreless in their last three outings against Southampton, Liverpool and Watford.

Watford, who are undefeated in their past six Premier League games, stay out of the relegation zone with the draw but are still just one point ahead of 18th-place Aston Villa, who drew 1-1 Saturday with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Elsewhere Saturday, seventh-place Sheffield United and 10th-place Arsenal battled to a 1-1 draw, with Gabriel Martinelli giving the Gunners the lead in the 45th minute before the Blades struck back on a goal by John Fleck in minute 83.

In the day's final game, visiting Chelsea squandered numerous chances to score against Newcastle United and paid dearly when Isaac Hayden leaped for a ball that had been sent into the box by Allan Saint-Maximin and headed it in the goal past keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga four minutes into second-half stoppage time.

The Blues ended up losing 1-0 at St. James Park despite taking 19 shots to the Magpies' seven, attempting 10 corner kicks to the home team's one and controlling possession 70 percent of the time.

Chelsea (39 points) are still in fourth place and solidly in the running for one of four 2020-2021 Champions League group stage berths after the halfway point of the season.

But if fifth-place Manchester United can go to Liverpool and hand the Reds their first loss of 2019-2020 on Sunday they will find themselves just two points behind the Blues. EFE

© 2020 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc., source EFE Ingles