LONDON – Crystal Palace fought back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 home draw with Leicester City after Yohan Cabaye and Christian Benteke denied the Premier League champions in a pulsating clash on Saturday.
The result left Palace above the relegation zone on 35 points from 32 games, two behind Leicester, who had taken a 2-0 lead through Robert Huth and in-form striker Jamie Vardy.
German defender Huth headed the visitors into a sixth-minute lead and they seemed to be heading for a sixth league win in seven games under manager Craig Shakespeare when Vardy doubled the advantage with a brilliant goal in the 52nd minute.
The Palace fightback began when Cabaye swept home a shot from 10 metres two minutes later, and Benteke completed it with a close-range header in the 70th minute after he rose above his markers to meet an Andros Townsend cross from the left.
* Bottom club Sunderland ended their seven-match scoring drought, but slipped closer to relegation after a 2-2 home draw with West Ham on Saturday.
Wahbi Khazri equalised for Sunderland direct from a corner in the 29th minute as the hosts recovered from falling behind to Andre Ayew’s fifth-minute opener for the visitors.
A seventh defeat in eight league games loomed for Sunderland when James Collins headed past Jordan Pickford immediately after the restart, but there was some late joy for the hosts.
Former Liverpool player Fabio Borini had only just taken to the field to replace Billy Jones when he fired in low past West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph.
West Ham, with 37 points, are virtually safe but Sunderland, with only two points from their last eight games, remain nine points short of safety with six games left.