Birmingham - 2 Manchester Utd - 2: There was a muted reception for Walter Pandiani when the striker, on the verge of a move to the Barcelona-based Espanyol club, made what appeared to be a valedictory appearance as a late substitute, but within three minutes the Uruguayan brought St Andrew's to its feet with an extraordinary late equaliser to earn Birmingham a precious point and dent Manchester United's title aspirations.
Having twice led through Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney, who have now shared 25 of United's 36 league goals this season, Alex Ferguson's side looked set to register an eighth Premiership win in nine matches, only for Pandiani to pilfer a goal that could prove crucial to Birmingham's survival hopes.
This was a match manager Steve Bruce had had every right to fear. Only Sunderland have a poorer home record than Birmingham and no team has been as productive on their travels in the Premiership than Manchester United. Perhaps more significant Ferguson's side won here in the Carling Cup only last week when Rooney started on the substitutes' bench and Van Nistelrooy did not even travel.
There was no chance of Ferguson resting the Premiership's most potent duo last night, although it was the presence of another striker that did most to warm the spirits of United fans on a bitterly cold evening. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, out for 19 months with a knee injury, was named among the substitutes.
The Norwegian's name had already reverberated around the stadium by the time United took the lead. The goal owed much to the vision of Paul Scholes, whose pass picked out Kieran Richardson on the United left. He outpaced Stephen Clemence before firing a cross toward the near post, where Van Nistelrooy nipped in to slide the ball home from around three yards.
Birmingham, reeling from three successive defeats, might have been expected to implode at that point but instead their immediate response smacked of belligerence. United were pushed on to the back foot and had come close to conceding a goal before Jamie Clapham's equaliser. A Jermaine Pennant corner, flicked on by Emile Heskey, found Clemence unmarked at the far post but the midfielder's header was cleared off the line by Scholes.
Luck was on United's side then, but certainly not when Clapham brought Birmingham level after 18 minutes. In the lead-up to the goal Cristiano Ronaldo, returning in place of Ryan Giggs after serving a one-match ban, was clearly fouled by Nicky Butt but the referee Howard Webb bizarrely saw no offence.
Birmingham were swift to capitalise. Clapham charged forward into the space Ronaldo had vacated and his pass found Jiri Jarosik. He played a ball inside Rio Ferdinand and Heskey's neat lay-off was dispatched by the onrushing Clapham. The full-back's left-foot drive from around 12 yards was powerful enough, but Edwin van der Sar, having taken the sting out of the shot, will have been disappointed that he failed to keep it out.
United's grievances lay elsewhere, though, as Rooney confronted Webb, furious at the official's failure to award a free-kick for Butt's challenge on Ronaldo. It was an argument that continued at the interval when Ferdinand also sought an explanation.
Within nine minutes of the restart United had restored their lead. Rooney finished off a free-flowing move that showed Ferguson's side at their very best. It began predictably with Scholes, who set free Alan Smith on the United right. His pass across the Birmingham area was brilliantly dummied by Van Nistelrooy allowing Rooney to bisect Martin Taylor and Kenny Cunningham with his run before slipping the ball into the far corner for his 10th league goal of the season.
He might have added another with a delicate chip and Ronaldo dragged a left-footed effort wide. Those misses proved costly when Pandiani announced his arrival by turning in Damien Johnson's low cross to spark jubilation.
l Guardian Service
BIRMINGHAM: Maik Taylor, Cunningham, Martin Taylor, Upson, Clapham (Painter 84), Pennant (Pandiani 75), Clemence (Kilkenny 69), Butt, Johnson, Heskey, Jarosik. Subs not used: Vaesen, Tebily. Goals: Clapham 18, Pandiani 78.
MANCHESTER UTD: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Richardson (Giggs 86), Fletcher, Scholes, Smith (Park 83), Ronaldo (Solskjaer 83), van Nistelrooy, Rooney. Subs not used: Howard, Pique. Goals: van Nistelrooy 5, Rooney 54.
Referee: H Webb (S Yorkshire).
