Yaya Toure scored a late penalty to spare Joe Hart's blushes and earn Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Norwich City.
The England goalkeeper inexplicably dropped a seemingly harmless Robbie Brady cross seven minutes from time, leaving Cameron Jerome to tap in a shock equaliser.
But Toure converted from the spot after Russell Martin had blocked Raheem Sterling's goal-bound shot with his arm, with the Canaries captain dismissed for the offence, and Aleksandar Kolarov missed another late penalty.
Despite scoring 16 times in their previous three domestic home matches Manuel Pellegrini's team struggled for their usual fluency until Nicolas Otamendi headed in his first goal for the club from a corner.
City top of the table on goal difference, with rivals Arsenal 3-0 victors at Swansea City, while Norwich are two points above the relegation zone in 16th after a fourth consecutive league loss.
Pellegrini named teenage forward Kelechi Iheanacho in his starting XI on the back of his sparking display in Wednesday's 5-1 League Cup victory over Crystal Palace, while Fernandinho returned to the midfield after serving a one-match suspension.
Youssouf Mulumbu made his league debut for Norwich, who began brightly at a ground where they endured a 7-0 defeat on their previous visit during the 2013-14 season.
After John Ruddy had made a sharp 10th-minute save from Wilfried Bony, Alex Neil's side enjoyed a spell of pressure and Alex Tettey saw a rasping shot blocked before Sebastien Bassong failed to connect with Matt Jarvis' searching cross.
Bony crashed an effort wide from inside the area following promising line-up play with Iheanacho and the Ivory Coast striker was off target again when teed up by De Bruyne in the 27th minute.
Hart kept out a rising Jarvis drive before Ruddy did well to claw Toure's free-kick out of the top corner.
Jarvis made way for Nathan Redmond due to injury at half-time and Bony was also in discomfort after a crunching Bassong tackle denied him a shot in the 53rd minute, with De Bruyne wildly slicing the loose ball wide.
Pellegrini's men had little to show for all their patient build-up in open play but finally broke the deadlock midway through the second half from a dead ball.
De Bruyne provided an outswinging corner from the right and Otamendi rose highest to brilliantly head past Ruddy from 12 yards.
Bony's fruitless quest to get on the scoresheet continued when he headed wide under pressure from Bassong, with De Bruyne once again the provider.
The former Swansea star then saw an 80th-minute attempt deflected wide with Ruddy rooted to the spot before Norwich struck in extraordinary style, with Jerome pouncing on Hart's error.
He was bailed out after a poor piece of play from counterpart Ruddy sparked confusion in the Norwich box and Sterling – who had replaced Iheanacho – saw his shot illegally blocked by Martin.
Ruddy guessed correctly but Toure planted his spot kick low and hard into the goalkeeper's bottom-right corner.
Hart partially atoned for his error in stoppage time by pushing Martin Olsson's deflected strike to safety before Kolarov shot wide from the spot after Sterling had been tripped.
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