Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City will both go into the hat for the Fourth Round of The FA Cup with Budweiser after an entertaining draw at Ewood Park.
But Premier League giants City survived a scare when Scott Dann's second-half strike cancelled out Alvaro Negredo's volley.
And the Championship side almost snatched a dramatic winner as they pushed forward after City were reduced to 10 men when defender Dedryck Boyata was shown a red card late on.
Blackburn 1-1 Man City
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Third Round Proper
Saturday 4 January 2014
Ewood Park
Despite a mounting fixture schedule, City boss Manuel Pellegrini signalled his intention to take the competition seriously and named a strong starting line-up of 11 full internationals with another six on the bench.
His opposite Gary Bowyer opted to leave leading scorer Jordan Rhodes on the bench but welcomed back former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson for his first start since December 2012.
And it was Rovers who had the first sight of goal when Dann won a free header from a corner but his effort was comfortably caught by Costel Pantilimon.
The visitors created little in a low-key first half with Robinson making a routine save from Fernandinho's low drive while David Silva blasted over the bar from 10 yards.
But City finally got the breakthrough a minute before half-time when Edin Dzeko won a header from Silva's corner and Negredo turned it in at the far post.
Highlights from the game at Ewood Park.
However, Rovers were level 10 minutes after the restart when Rudy Gestade's powerful header was palmed out by Pantilimon and Dann tapped in the rebound from close range.
Chris Taylor then almost gave the home side the lead, clipping a shot wide from close range.
At the other end, Robinson showed he hadn't lost any of his quality during his long lay-off, making smart saves to keep out Dzeko and substitute Jesus Navas.
Six minutes from the end, Boyata was shown a second yellow card after hacking down DJ Campbell and Blackburn almost grabbed a winner but Tom Cairney's effort curled just wide.
Blackburn Rovers
Robinson; Henley, Dann, Hanley, Spurr; Cairney, Williamson (King 64), Taylor, Lowe; Marshall (Campbell 80), Gestede (Rhodes 80).
Substitutes not used: Eastwood, Kilgallon, Judge, Rochina.
Manchester City
Pantilimon; Boyata, Lescott, Nastasic, Clichy; Milner, Fernandinho (Toure 64), Garcia, Silva (Zabaleta 88); Negredo (Navas 74), Dzeko.
Substitutes not used: Hart, Kolarov, Kompany, Lopes.
Referee: Michael Oliver
Attendance: 18,813
