An injury-time goal from substitiute Diomansy Kamara earned Fulham an incredible comeback 3-2 victory at Manchester City to keep alive their chances of avoiding relegation.

Needing a win to stand any chance of avoiding the drop, things looked bleak for Fulham when City eased into a 2-0 half-time lead thanks to goals from Stephen Ireland and Benjani Mwaruwari.

But Roy Hodgson's side fought back gamely in the second half; Kamara halving the deficit before Danny Murphy fired home the rebound from his own missed penalty to force a frantic finish.

With City desperate for a win to keep alive their slim chances of making Europe, both sides poured forward in the final 10 minutes.

And after City had spurned two glorious chances to win it themselves, Kamara sprinted free to lash a shot past Joe Hart to seal a remarkable comeback victory.

Fulham made a bright start and City needed a wonderful Hart save from Clint Dempsey's low shot in the sixth minute to remain on level terms.

Just four minutes later, City were in front. Martin Petrov broke down the left, taking a couple of Fulham markers with him, before backheeling to Ireland on the edge of the box; the little midfielder took a touch before curling a shot, via a crucial deflection off Murphy, beyond Kasey Keller and into the far corner.

With Fulham realising the need to press forward as they desperately tried to find a way to save their season, City increasingly began to find space to exploit and it came as no surprise when the home side got a second.

Elano, who offered superb distribution and creativity from his unfamiliar right-back role, released Darius Vassell down the right and the pacy forward took advantage of Keller's hesitancy to get to the by-line before pulling the ball back to Benjani, who finished first-time from eight yards.

Hart, looking to impress England coach Fabio Capello ahead of the forthcoming summer friendlies, pulled off another fantastic reaction save just after the half-hour to tip David Healy's header over the crossbar.

City started the second half with a real swagger and twice brought smart saves out of Keller at his near post through efforts from a tight angle from Vassell and Benjani.

It was virtually one-way traffic; Petrov scuffing a 60th-minute effort with his weaker right foot from the edge of the box after good work from Benjani, although Jimmy Bullard curled a free-kick narrowly wide moments later.

A slack piece of defending from Vedran Corluka then handed the visitors a lifeline as he allowed a ball from the right wing to reach substitute Kamara, who controlled the ball before spinning and hitting a low shot through the legs of Hart at the near post.

And remarkably, despite City dominance, Fulham got their equaliser to force a dramatic finish when referee Mike Dean awarded a penalty when Sun Jihai and Erik Nevland fell to the crowd as the fought for a cross.

Murphy's initial spot-kick was saved by Hart to his right, but he could only push the ball straight back into the path of the penalty taker, who gratefully slammed home the rebound.

As both sides pressed, City looked the more likely to grab the winner, and Benjani should have done better with his pass after spurning the chance to shoot when one-on-one in favour of a square ball to substitute Felipe Caicedo.

Caicedo then sliced a shot wide of the far post from inside the box, mirroring a Petrov effort moments before at the back stick after he had been picked out by an Elano cross.

But Fulham rode their luck before breaking, and Kamara ensured the relegation fight will go another week when he crashed a left-foot shot high into the net after being set free down the left channel.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport