Soccer-Stuttering Man City held by bottom side Sunderland

LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - Manchester City's Premier League title hopes were dealt a crushing blow as they were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom club Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. Everton suffered a surprise 3-2 home defeat by Crystal Palace at Goodison Park to hit their chances of a top-four finish. Fernandinho got City off to the perfect start with a goal after two minutes, but Connor Wickham's double put struggling Sunderland ahead before Samir Nasri snatched a late equaliser. Manuel Pellegrini's City stayed third in the table on 71 points from 33 matches, six behind leaders Liverpool with only one game in hand. Everton's defeat, their first in eight games, left them on 66 points from 34 matches, a point adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal with four games remaining. (Reporting By Michael Hann, editing by Ed Osmond)