Peter Crouch was on target against City in the league last season, and he repeated the trick by controlling Jonathan Walters' cross in the box before drilling home, although he appeared to use his hand in the build-up. City's equaliser came from an unlikely source, as debutant Javi Garcia nodded in unmarked from a set-piece on a day when Maicon and Scott Sinclair were also awarded first starts by Roberto Mancini.
For all City's pressure in the second half, they could not break through, with Ryan Shawcross' late clearance from Edin Dzeko in the dying moments denying them all three points.