Graham Alexander wheels away in celebration after putting Burnley ahead

By Les Roopanarine

Manchester City were held to a fifth consecutive Premier League draw as Burnley picked up their first away point of the season.

Graham Alexander put Burnley ahead from the penalty spot before Steven Fletcher made it 2-0 from a Chris Eagles cross.

City hit back either side of the break, Shaun Wright-Phillips driving home before Kolo Toure levelled.

Craig Bellamy put City ahead, but substitute Kevin McDonald struck late on to earn Burnley a dramatic point.

The result ends a sequence of five successive Premier League away defeats for Burnley, whose refusal to be bowed despite relinquishing a two-goal lead underlined their growing ability to withstand the rigours of Premier League combat.

But the afternoon brought another blow for City, whose failure to claim a single victory from their last five Premier League outings sees them displaced from the top four by Tottenham, who beat Sunderland 2-0.

City manager Mark Hughes will not relish the prospect of explaining the club's recent inadequacies to club owner Sheikh Mansour when he takes his side to Abu Dhabi for next week's friendly against the United Arab Emirates national team.

Yet the afternoon began auspiciously enough for City, who subjected the visitors to a stern early examination.

Between the intelligent midfield prompting of Stephen Ireland and the promising interplay of Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor, all the initial evidence suggested that Burnley were in for a torrid time.

But Owen Coyle's men weathered the storm and served notice of their own lurking menace when Robbie Blake prodded wide from an Alexander free-kick.

Even so, there was scant indication of the high-scoring drama to follow until the 19th minute, when referee Stuart Attwell awarded a questionable penalty against Joleon Lescott, who instinctively protected his face as City old boy Tyrone Mears drove in a cross from point-blank range.

Alexander slammed home the spot-kick, and City had barely regrouped before they found themselves two down.

A Blake free-kick found Andre Bikey on the edge of the six-yard box, and although the Cameroonian's header was beaten away by Shay Given, the City defence was still in disarray when Blake fed Eagles.

Cutting in from the right, the former Manchester United man delivered a perfectly-weighted ball for Fletcher, who side-footed home from close range.

As Claret hearts dared to dream of claiming a celebrated nouveau-riche scalp, City poured forward in search of a reply.

They were almost rewarded when Adebayor set up Bellamy, whose shot fizzed across the face of goal after a crucial touch from Brian Jensen.

But with the interval approaching, Wright-Phillips cut in from the right flank to send a deflected shot beyond the despairing grasp of Jensen.

Sensing a way back, City went for the jugular after the break, Carlos Tevez and Ireland both going close before Toure marked his return from injury with the first Premier League goal of his fledgling Eastlands career.

Racing on to a Gareth Barry free-kick, Lescott redirected the ball into Toure's path, presenting the Ivorian with an unmissable opportunity.

Burnley were feeling the squeeze, and three minutes later they fell behind for the first time in the match.

Ireland released Wright-Phillips down the right, and the diminutive winger centred for Bellamy to sweep in his fifth Premier League goal of the campaign.

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Burnley clung on grimly, repelling efforts from Tevez and Adebayor before substitute David Nugent headed off the line to prevent a Clarke Carlisle own goal.

It was backs to the wall stuff for Burnley, but there was one final dramatic twist to come.

With three minutes left Fletcher headed Nugent's flighted ball across goal to McDonald, and the Scotsman - on as a replacement for Bikey - scored the equaliser from five yards.

It was a joyous conclusion for Coyle's side.

But when Hughes remarked a couple of months back that people would look back at this period of City's history with incredulity, drawing against Aston Villa, Wigan, Fulham, Birmingham and now Burnley was probably not what he had in mind.

City manager Mark Hughes:

"We certainly don't expect to concede three at home, and we need to address that.

"It is frustrating and disappointing because we got ourselves into a winning position.

"We have to learn to see games out because we have drawn two games at home from winning positions.

"Ideally we would have preferred maximum points, but there are lessons to be learned and we need to recognise areas where we need to improve."

Burnley boss Owen Coyle:

"We are on a learning curve and if we had been an experienced Premier League team we would have seen it off.

"There is an unbelievable spirit in our dressing room.

"We are the smallest town to be in the Premier League, but we are determined to give this a real fight.

"Getting into the Premier League was an unbelievable achievement, but staying in it would exceed that by some distance."

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