Manchester City’s aim to get their European campaign up and running faltered as a Francesco Totti inspired AS Roma got a deserved draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Pellegrini's men got off to a perfect start when Douglas Maicon tugged Aguero's shirt in the box as the Argentine looked to get on the end of a chipped ball. The referee awarded the obvious penalty and brandished a yellow card for Maicon, who was perhaps lucky to be on the field.
Kun Aguero duly converted the penalty to give City a 4th minute lead. Not deterred after going a goal down, Roma almost hit back immediately.
Ghosting behind City's defence, Maicon was expertly picked out by the mercurial Totti. The Brazilian brought the ball down and thundered a volley against the Hart's cross bar. The close call failed to wake City up as they dropped deeper letting the midfield trio of Ketia, Nainggolan and Pjanic hog possession.
Giallorossi got their due reward, when Totti raced on to a perfectly weighted first pass by Nainggolan and sent a delightful chip over the on-rushing Joe Hart to equalise. In process, the iconic Roman became the oldest player to score in the Champions League.
Despite conceding, the Citizens showed no fervor to stamp their authority on the game. The midfield duo of Fernandinho and Yaya Toure were completely outplayed by their counterparts. AS Roma had a few more opportunities but were unable to capitalize. Manchester City themselves were hard done to not get a 2nd penalty when a cut back by Jesus Navas struck the hand of a sliding Manolas. As the first half whistle blew, Rudi Garcia could not have wished for a better reaction from his team after going down, while it was back to the drawing board for Manuel Pellegrini as his midfield was completely overrun.
James Milner replaced Jesus Navas at the half time break as in a bid to bring more energy and shore up the midfield.
Despite the changes, Hart was the called in to action by Pjanic. A jinking run by the Bosnian saw the ball spread to Nainggolan. The Belgian's cross evaded all attackers but City's failure to clear the ball presented Pjanic with chance, who fired straight at Hart.
In a bid to claim victory the inform Frank Lampard was introduced for Edin Dzeko. Again, it was the visitors who created the best chance. A move involving Totti and Florenzi picked out Pjanic at the edge of the area. The midfield maestro's composure deserted him as he sent the ball high and wide.
Lampard's introduction managed to defensively stablise City and even drew out a save from Skorupski. The Pole got down well to keep out a stinging drive from the ex-Chelsea man. Despite all the substitutions and tactical shuffling, City remained lackluster when going forward.
They were finally able to fashion a decent chance in the 93rd minute. Jovetic played in Zabaleta with a disguised pass, the Argentine’s low cross picked out David Silva's run at the near post. The Spaniard was unable to direct ball on target and along with his miss died the hopes of a win as well. It was another disappointing European night for Manchester City.
After two rounds of Champions League, Roma are three points and five goals better off than Manchester City. With back to back games coming against with bottom side CSKA Moscow, City will have to get the maximum 6 points to keep their hopes of progression alive. Meanwhile Roma play Bayern Munich knowing that getting results will put them in the driving seat for the 2nd place.