Manchester City's abysmal run of misfortune continued at Eastlands as Paolo di Canio extended their barren streak to 13 matches with a controversial late leveller.

The defensive blunders which have reduced Kevin Keegan's side to rubble over the past two months were avoided - this time it was two debatable refereeing decisions which cost them.

Looking quite solid as they defended the lead given to them by Robbie Fowler's first-half volley, Keegan was left aghast as first Sylvain Distin was ruled to have conceded a harsh free-kick midway inside his own half.

Then, with the home fans fearing what was to follow, Joey Barton handled when Radostin Kishishev stroked the set-piece into the area.

If that wasn't bad enough, David Seaman brilliantly palmed away Di Canio's penalty, only for the veteran Italian to tap the rebound into an empty net.

The result leaves City dangling three points above the relegation zone and Keegan wondering where the next victory will come from.

It all looked so straightforward after Fowler had livened up a poor opening period with his sixth goal of the campaign.

Nicolas Anelka deserved most of the credit for a mazy dribble which took him past Jason Euell, Hermann Hreidarsson and Mark Fish and into the area.

Chris Perry eventually stopped the Frenchman but his block only sent the ball spinning into Fowler's path and the former Liverpool front-man brought back memories of his halcyon days with a lethal left-footed finish.

The result won't be enough to persuade Keegan to reconsider his decision to let Eyal Berkovic leave for Portsmouth - the move is expected to be completed within 48 hours - but it might make tomorrow's meeting with chairman John Wardle over potential transfer funds slightly more uncomfortable.

Keegan's relationship with Berkovic has broken down completely - but there was a 20-minute period here though when even the City boss must have longed to watch the little Israeli produce some of his magic.

After a bright start, in which Anelka wasted the best chance by taking too long to pull down an excellent lofted pass from Paul Bosvelt that had set him completely free, offering Kishishev the opportunity to intervene, City slipped into a fairly heavy slumber.

If Charlton really are the fourth best team in the country, they could have been expected to take advantage. Instead they were just as poor.

Even the return of the influential Scott Parker from the ankle injury which saw him miss the shock FA Cup defeat to failed to ignite the Addicks.

They did have one plausible claim for a penalty when Richard Dunne appeared to pull back Jonatan Johansson as he entered the area and di Canio wasted a fine chance, dragging a 12-yard effort wide after being found completely unmarked.

Other than that, it was soporific and it took Fowler's impressive finish to shake the teams out of their slumber.

Fortunately for another large crowd, they were still awake on their return and the excitement continued from virtually the first whistle.

It appeared David Seaman had made a huge blunder when he edged to his left and gave Parker a clear space to fire his angled drive into after di Canio had set the midfielder through.

Instead the former England keeper was using his experience and pulled off a fine save by his post as Parker went for the gap.

The Charlton duo exchanged roles but with no greater success when di Canio failed to keep a difficult volley down when Parker lifted a pass over the City defence to the veteran Italian.

In between Fish had been forced into a superb sliding tackle to prevent Anelka latching onto a through ball from Joey Barton, who had been called into action midway through the first half after Claudio Reyna had taken a knock.

Barton's industry kept City pressing forward, although, having failed to keep a clean sheet on home soil since the end of September, they should not have needed any reminding that they needed a second to land the win which was so desperately craved.

Bosvelt looked like providing in when Fowler lined him up with a shooting chance but Kiely beat away his powerful drive.

The introduction of Shaun Wright-Phillips' pace off the bench 16 minutes from the end should have given Charlton another problem to deal with. Instead it was Keegan who got the headache.

TeamsMan City Seaman, Sommeil, Dunne, Distin, Sinclair, Reyna (Barton 20), Sibierski (Wright-Phillips 74), Bosvelt, Tarnat, Anelka, Fowler (Macken 71).

Subs Not Used: Stuhr-Ellegaard, Jihai.

Goals: Fowler 39.

Charlton Kiely, Kishishev, Fish, Perry, Hreidarsson, Holland, Euell (Stuart 81), Parker, Konchesky (Cole 61), Johansson (Jensen 74), Di Canio.

Subs Not Used: Fortune, Royce.

Goals: Di Canio 84.

Att: 44,307

Ref: P Walton (Northamptonshire).