Marcos Lopes notched his first EDS goal to cancel out Palace’s early lead but despite the lion's share of chances, City had to be content with a point on an unseasonably balmy night in South London.

Attilio Lombardo made 43 appearances for Crystal Palace at the back end of an illustrious return and he made an enjoyable return to Selhurst Park in charge of City EDS, leading out a side bolstered by the inclusion of Kolo Toure to warm applause.

City were looking to avoid extending their winless streak to three matches and they got off to a promising start when good chances fell for Scapuzzi and in-form Huws but, as was the case last time out against Fulham, the ball just wouldn't find its way in and they were duly punished when Palace took the lead after nine minutes.

A devilish cross from Fenwick was turned into the City goal by Ellis Plummer in unfortunate circumstances. In truth there was little the defender could have done as it was a cross that had to be dealt with.

City looked to respond to their set back immediately and Denis Suarez, who seemed to have drawn confidence from his first-team appearance against Aston Villa last week, carried the fight, laying on a multitude of chances for his teammates.

Because of the tidal nature of the first-half, the second goal was always going to be of paramount importance and it was City who got it on the stroke of half-time through Lopes with a special first goal for the EDS.

The Portuguese forward cut in and unleashed a rasping left foot shot from 20 yards which flew into the bottom corner, giving the Palace keeper no chance. It was the least City deserved in a match in which it looked like they would be unable to turn domination into goals.

City’s imaginative, attractive performance continued after half-time and the irrepressible Suarez with his fencer’s gait and poise, prodded and probed away at the Palace defence but the Spaniard delivered everything except the fatal incision as the Blues racked up the chances.

The 662 home fans rolled back the years by serenading the City boss with a rousing rendition of “Just One Lombardo” to the theme tune of a popular ice cream brand as time ran out for the Blues to find a winner. It was a gesture acknowledged with a playful kiss from Attilio as he made for the tunnel.

His team don’t have much time to recover from their exertions as they are in NextGen Series action against Fenerbahce in Turkey on Thursday afternoon. We’ll bring you live updates on Twitter and a full report after full-time here on mcfc.co.uk.