Darius Vassell came off the bench to snatch a rare away victory for Manchester City in a dramatic 2-1 finish at Sunderland.
A game which remained goalless for 79 minutes exploded into life when referee Mike Riley awarded a penalty for Nyron Nosworthy's challenge on substitute Daniel Sturridge and Elano calmly converted from the spot.
But that was only the beginning of the fireworks as Dean Whitehead levelled with a sweet 82nd-minute volley to set the stage for a grand finale.
However, while late goals have become a feature of Sunderland's season, it was the visitors who snatched all three points at the death when Vassell scuffed the ball past Craig Gordon with just three minutes remaining to end the Black Cats' three-game winning run and claim his side's second victory in eight attempts.
After an instantly forgettable first half, the Black Cats dominated in the second and looked the more likely winners.
But Riley's intervention sparked an eventful finish to the game to leave Roy Keane bemoaning one that got away.
On a day when Sunderland knew it could mathematically ensure participation in next season's top flight, a bumper crowd of 46,797 arrived in eager anticipation.
But as the home fans applauded their side off the field at the break, they did so having witnessed as dull a half of football as they have seen all season.
City arrived on Wearside having won only one of its last seven games and intent on not tasting defeat at the Stadium of Light.
To that end, the Sky Blues were content to pack their midfield and leave lone striker Benjani Mwaruwari to fend for himself with support from Martin Petrov and Elano.
However, that support materialised only fleetingly, and it was not until injury time at the end of the first half that the visitors managed to register a shot on goal with Petrov seeing his effort blocked and Stephen Ireland firing the rebound high over.
Keane's men were more positive, but could not quite find their rhythm as they attempted to rediscover the form which had brought them successive wins over Aston Villa, West Ham and Fulham.
Their best chance arrived with 23 minutes gone when Michael Chopra, once again lining up wide on the right, and Kieran Richardson combined to put Kenwyne Jones in on goal.
The powerful striker held off the equally physical Richard Dunne to get his shot in, but keeper Joe Hart made an important save.
Thereafter, Dunne threw himself into the path of Chopra's 32nd-minute drive and Ireland blocked Andy Reid's free-kick two minutes before the break, but Sunderland simply could not find a way past the massed ranks of blue shirts.
Sven-Goran Eriksson would have been the happier manager as he headed for the dressing room, but there was little doubt that both sides would have to improve significantly if they were to stand a chance of collecting all three points.
After the break as the game wore on, Sunderland was finding more and more space but was guilty of not using it to best effect on the hour when Reid and Murphy carved City apart, but could not put Hart under pressure.
Murphy saw a shot blocked behind by Dunne and Jonny Evans headed the resulting corner wide, and it was then that Keane decided the time had come to introduce winger Carlos Edwards, whose omission from the starting line-up