Sibierski halts City's slide with late header

Manchester City 1 Leeds United 1

When Antoine Sibierski was introduced into this Premiership match 20 minutes from time at the City of Manchester Stadium last night, it was to a chorus of disapproval. The mood swung when he scored the goal that saved City from a frustrating defeat and then protected the draw by clearing off his own line.

City's biggest crowd yet at their new stadium had endured the most infuriating of evenings, with their team having a series of chances, none of which they looked like having the composure to convert.

Changes were clearly needed and Kevin Keegan made a triple substitution. The mystery of it was that Joey Barton should be one of those taken off, as the industrious young midfielder had been City's best player. But Sibierski more than justified his presence. Twelve minutes after coming on, he rose to meet Sun Jihai's right-wing cross and headed past Paul Robinson for City's overdue goal. If that was not enough, the Frenchman was in the right place five minutes from time to clear Michael Duberry's header off the line.

It would have been a morale-sapping disaster for City to have got nothing out of this game. They had been fluent in midfield from the start, especially when Barton and Claudio Reyna were involved, and they carved out a string of chances. But it was all too easy to see why they had scored only two goals in their previous seven matches as the out-of-touch Nicolas Anelka repeatedly failed to make decisive contact and others, like Steve McManaman and David Sommeil, missed the target when it was presented to them.

After 23 minutes, Sommeil compounded the offence by making a gift of the game's first goal to Mark Viduka. There was no obvious danger as James Milner rolled the ball forward, but Sommeil stumbled over it to leave Viduka to go round David Seaman and put it away.

City continued to make and miss opportunities either side of half-time, with Duberry clearing off the line from Reyna. Cruellest of all, Barton's energy almost broke the deadlock when he made room for himself outside the area and struck a low shot which came back off the inside of the post.

That made the City faithful all the more incredulous when Barton was one of those taken off. "If I could have made four changes I would have made four," Keegan admitted. "No disrespect to Joey Barton that I took him off because he was outstanding. But Antoine Sibierski is very good in the air and he is a goalscorer." That proved to be the case. But there was still time for Sommeil to come close to a second gaffe when it looked as though he had brought down Milner on the edge of the area.

It would not have seemed like a bad result when it was conveyed to Leeds' caretaker manager, Eddie Gray, who was at his daughter's wedding. "I think someone shouted to him when we scored," said Leeds' head coach, Kevin Blackwell, who stood in for him last night. "It's one of those games where you set out your plan and I'm delighted with a draw."

A win would have lifted Leeds out of the relegation places but a draw will strengthen their belief that they can move in that direction, even though they suffered the setback of a serious hamstring injury to Lucas Radebe.

For City, even a belated share of the points was enough to take them three places up the table. "We had to fight to get a point and in the end we are happy to get a draw,'' Keegan said.

Manchester City (4-4-2): Seaman 5; Jihai 6, Sommeil 4, Dunne 6, Distin 6; Wright-Phillips 5, Barton 7 (Sibierski 7, 70), Reyna 7, McManaman 5 (Macken 5, 70); Fowler 5 (Wanchope 5, 70), Anelka 5. Substitutes not used: Stuhr-Ellegaard (gk), Tarnat.

Leeds United (4-1-4-1): Robinson 6; Kelly 5, Radebe 6 (McPhail 5, 74), Duberry 6, Harte 5; Matteo 6, Pennant 5 (Bridges, 81), Batty 7 (Kilgallon, 90), Smith 6; Milner 6, Viduka 5. Substitutes not used: Carson (gk), Morris.

Referee: G Barber (Tring) 6.