Man Utd held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham

Birmingham: Manchester United returned to the top of the Premier League table despite Lee Bowyer's last-minute equaliser for Birmingham City.

United usurped Manchester City but could not end Birmingham's 18-month run without a home defeat to top-six opposition.

Blues manager Alex McLeish battened the hatches for the visit of their glamorous opponents. Cameron Jerome was utilised as the lone front man, with Nikola Zigic sacrificed for Jean Beausejour who helped form a compact midfield-five.

For United, there was one change from the side that dispatched Sunderland 2-0 on Boxing Day. Darron Gibson was handed his first Premier League start of the season in place of Ji-Sung Park, who had travelled to Qatar to represent South Korea in the Asian Cup.

In a foggy St Andrew's, the opening minutes saw the two teams trade possession without any real openings. Wayne Rooney's desperation to end his nine-month top flight spell without a goal in open play saw him shoot wide of ex-United colleague Ben Foster's post on seven minutes, then curled a tame effort into his hands four minutes later before he blasted over on 16 minutes.

While Rooney can't buy a strike at present despite the riches from his new contract, Ryan Giggs nearly netted one of the flukiest efforts of his career. The Welshman over-hit a cross that was tapped onto the bar in acrobatic fashion by Foster in the 18th minute.

Moments later, a rash challenge from Michael Carrick on the edge of his penalty box handed Sebastian Larsson the chance to strike. However, the set piece specialist disappointed as his attempt went well over Edwin van der Sar's cross bar.

The first flash point of the match came on 25 minutes after Anderson reacted badly to a sly kick from Barry Ferguson. After hand bags ensued, referee Lee Mason handed the Brazilian and Craig Gardner a caution.

The home support then erupted minutes later as Nemanja Vidic misjudged a bouncing ball and floored Jerome's with a high kick to his chest. Mason was correct to reach for a yellow card as Rio Ferdinand had been present to provide cover.

The sides continued at loggerheads, with the ball changing hands time after time. It took a barnstorming Rafael Da Silva run on 39 minutes to show any hint of an opening but his through ball to Dimitar Berbatov was over-hit.

Similarly poor weighting was to blame right away at the other end as Gardner thrashed at a Lee Bowyer knock-back.

Birmingham continued to stifle and frustrate their visitors for the rest of the half before the players trudged off to the warmth of the changing rooms.

United began the second period pushed further up the pitch by Ferguson as he sought to force a way through. Birmingham were presented with the clearest chance of the game, however.

A long ball ricocheted around the United penalty area before a Jerome shot was deflected into Gardner's path. The midfielder could only fire straight at van der Sar on 53 minutes with the rest of the goal at his mercy.

The pressure was kept up on the dogged Birmingham defence and Berbatov finally found a chink in their armour on 58 minutes. A one-two with Gibson, started with a typically majestic flicked pass, was hammered into the bottom left corner of Foster's net to hand the Premier League top scorer his 14th goal of the season.

The advantage was nearly doubled on the hour mark as Berbatov struck the base of the right-hand post after he shimmied into space and cracked a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

United now took a firm grip on proceedings as McLeish's plan to contain them fell apart with the conceding of the goal. Berbatov repeatedly tried to play in Rooney before Darron Gibson flashed a thunderbolt drive well wide of Foster's net when he should have done better on 75 minutes.

Birmingham then called for a penalty when substitute Alexander Hleb tumbled in the area in an apparent collision with Rafael on 81 minutes. Referee Mason remained unmoved, however.

The ball was then sprung up the pitch. A Ryan Giggs corner was met with venom by Vidic but his header was tipped over by Foster.

Gibson then wasted a glorious chance to play in Berbatov and put the game beyond Birmingham on 87 minutes. Although in acres of space in the opposition half, his pass was hammered away by Ridgewell when he had all the time in the world to find the Bulgarian.

The Irishman paid for his error on 89 minutes as Bowyer snuck in at the far post to find an equaliser. A long-ball from Johnson bounced off the huge frame of replacement Nikola Zigic and the ex-Leeds United midfielder placed his shot past van der Sar despite the Dutchman's offside protestations.

United pushed for a winner as the game lapsed into injury-time but could not stop themselves from dropping points in the title race.