London, Apr 1 (IANS): Manchester City fought back from 3-1 down to score twice in the space of a minute to draw 3-3 with Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium to keep their title bid alive.

Sebastian Larsson opened the scoring Saturday for the visitors in the 31st minute after receiving the ball from Stephane Sessegnon on the edge of the area, curling the ball into the bottom right corner, Xinhua reported.

Phil Dowd awarded a contentious penalty three minutes before the break when Craig Gardner was adjudged to have floored Edin Dzeko. Mario Balotelli stepped up to the spot and slotted home the equaliser.

Three minutes into added time, Sessegnon swung in a vicious cross and Nicklas Bendtner out-jumped Micah Richards and headed the ball into the net.

Sunderland made it 3-1 from a classic counter-attack, Bendtner sliding the ball across the front of goal which Larsson swept home.

Balotelli and Aleksandar Kolarov scored in the dying minutes of the game to give City an unlikely draw.

Meanwhile, Chelsea beat Aston Villa 4-2 and renewed their hopes of finishing in the top-four of the table which will give them a chance to play in the Champions League.

Everton beat West Brom 2-0 at Goodison Park and Fulham recorded a 2-1 win over Norwich.