Substitute Erling Haaland scored an injury-time winner from the penalty spot to give Manchester City victory over Cottagers and send them top of the table.
Haaland was embraced by his manager at the final whistle and joined his team-mates on a lap of honour after his 95th minute strike.
What appeared as though it would be a frustrating and potentially costly afternoon in City's pursuit of a third-successive title, instead ended with a memorable victory thanks to Haaland's 18th league goal.
All seemed to be going according to plan for the team as they took the lead through a powerful finish and pressed for more goals.
The march to a seventh win in a row did not happen. The game changed just before the half-hour mark when Joao Cancelo muscled Harry Wilson off the ball in the box.
The referee pointed to the spot and showed Cancelo a red card, to the disbelief of the players, before Ederson was sent the wrong way.
Even though they had the extra man, they were content to sit deep and frustrate their hosts.
When Haaland came off the bench in the second half, it looked like they would be successful.
The home side's celebrations were cut short when the VAR showed that Haaland was not in an obvious position to score.
City's attacks grew frantic towards the end and Haaland got no closer to finding the net until De Bruyne was tripped by Robinson in injury time.
Haaland stepped up to fire his penalty into the bottom corner, despite the best efforts of Leno, and sparked wild celebrations from his team mates, manager and in the stands.
City have won all seven of their home league games this season, but have never left it as late as possible to win.
The referee failed to book Wilson for a foul in the first half, which resulted in Silva being booked instead.
The clamour for Haaland's introduction grew as the second half went on, with City dominating possession but failing to find a way through the defenders.
In the 63rd minute, Haaland and Phil Foden were introduced on their rescue mission, but it appeared they would find it hard to break through.
Haaland's first effort was an air-shot and his second flew a mile wide but he was at full stretch to reach a John Stones cross at the far post.
His disallowed goal seemed to be a part of the story of two points dropped for his side, but City kept coming forward and eventually got their reward at the end of the game.
The Cottagers had a chance to get at kick-off, but few people gave them a chance.
The Serbian was out of their squad due to an ankle injury.
Marco Silva's team exceeded expectations for the second time this season. Silva stuck to his plan to keep his team compact and hit City on the break even when it was 11 men vs 10, despite their penalty and Cancelo's red card.
The four-game run that took the Cottagers up to seventh in the table is over, but the spirit and organisation that Silva's side showed in the second half bode well for future tests.
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