Manchester City raced into a two-goal lead after 11 minutes but have been pegged back to 2-2 by Hull City in an entertaining first half at the KC Stadium.
Sergio Aguero almost gave the visitors the lead inside 60 seconds as his burst of pace took him away from two defenders, but the Argentine saw his shot from a narrow angle palmed away by Allan McGregor.
Six minutes later, the 26-year-old showed his predatory instincts as he spun inside the area before sending a half-volley beyond the reach of McGregor to put City 1-0 up.
Edin Dzeko doubled their lead just four minutes after the opener with a rasping drive from 20 yards which flew into the top corner.
Just as City looked to be racing away from their opponents, a stroke of misfortune halved the deficit as Eliaquim Mangala inadvertently flicked a header past Willy Caballero from Liam Rosenior's wicked right-wing cross.
Mangala's afternoon went from bad to worse ten minutes later when he was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Abel Hernandez inside the area, and the Uruguayan striker picked himself up to level from the spot with his second league goal in three games for the Tigers.
The equaliser seemed to shock the champions, but they began to compose themselves once more and Dzeko almost put them ahead again with a header in the 43rd minute, but it was directed just over the bar.