Ilkay Gundogan made his first competitive start since his knee injury as Manchester City EDS drew 2-2 with Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The German midfielder played an hour as he got some valuable minutes under his belt at the heart of Simon Davies’ side’s midfield, who were pegged back after Lorenzo Gonzalez and Benjamin Garre had twice put them in front.
Brahim Diaz and Phil Foden also returned to the EDS fold, with the Spaniard looking particularly threatening throughout, but Layton Ndukwu’s penalty and George Thomas’ strike rescued a point for the visitors.
It was Diaz who had the first chance of the game in the ninth minute, as he drove inside off the right flank and fired a shot at goal, but it was a comfortable save for Eldin Jakupovic in the Foxes’ goal.
A minute later and City were ahead as Gonzalez raced clear of the opposition’s defence and, in acres of space, calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.
Diaz went close to doubling the lead, dancing down the touch line and getting a shot away, only to be denied by the post, but it was the visitors who scored next – levelling from the penalty spot in the 24th minute.
Aro Muric guessed right but couldn’t keep Layton Ndukwu’s precise effort out of the bottom left corner, after Demeaco Duhaney felled George Thomas.
The Blues deservedly regained the lead five minutes after the break as they expertly moved the ball from right to left, which allowed Foden to tee up Benjamin Garre.
The Argentine made no mistake, tucking the ball inside the keeper’s near post from six yards.
Davies’ youngsters controlled the game for long periods, with Matt Smith particularly impressing as he looked to exploit the space behind the defence with his range of passing.
Muric was rarely called into action but made a fine save from Josh Eppiah’s curling effort, only for his parry to fall into the path of Thomas who smashed it home from close range seven minutes from time.
Leicester came into the game more as the final whistle approached, as the hosts continued to search in vain for the winner their dominance deserved.
