Yaya Toure made a surprise return to the Manchester City starting XI and promptly bagged a brace while Everton rescued a point at home against Swansea.

The Ivorian had not featured for City this season but showed no rustiness, with his deflected shot in the 39th minute the difference in a closely fought contest, reports Premierleague.com.

Palace came back into the match in the second half and equalised when Connor Wickham, the substitute, got past Pablo Zabaleta and shot through Claudio Bravo on 66 minutes.

But City responded and Toure was allowed to convert Kevin De Bruyne’s low corner from six yards to send City level on 27 points with Liverpool, who could only draw at Southampton.

At Goodison Park, defender Seamus Coleman rescued his side with a late equaliser as he cancelled out Gylfi Sigurdsson’s first-half strike.

The draw leaves Everton in seventh place with 19 points from 12 games. The Swans will be bitterly disappointed with their failure to hold on to the win as they remain in last place, two points behind Sunderland.

In other results, Sunderland secured a second consecutive win with a 3-0 victory at home over Hull City (Jermaine Defoe and Victor Anichebe x2) while Bournemouth shocked Stoke City 1-0 at the Brittania (Nathan Ake).