United held by battling Magpies
Monday, 01 Jan 2007 20:03
A brace from Scholes was not enough to give United their fourth straight win
Manchester United blew the chance to go nine points clear at the top of the table after a 2-2 draw with Newcastle at St James' Park.
A 73rd-minute strike from 19-year-old David Edgar on his home debut gave Glenn Roeder's injury-ravaged side a point.
A brace from Paul Scholes looked to have handed United the perfect start to 2007 after a breathtaking strike from James Milner had given the Magpies a shock 1-0 lead.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side dominated the game and should have wrapped up the three points earlier as the title race took another dramatic twist.
Newcastle were forced to play Nolberto Solano as a makeshift right-back in a defence featuring youngsters Edgar and Paul Huntington.
Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs returned to the United starting line-up following injury lay-offs.
The away team could, and perhaps should, have opened the scoring on nine minutes when Louis Saha's exquisite through ball found Giggs whose angled shot flew wide of the post with the goal at his mercy.
Newcastle's first chance of the game fell to Kieron Dyer who blasted a 20-yard effort which was parried by goalkeeper Edwin van Der Sar.
Saha then wasted two chances in the space of two minutes for the visitors.
First, the French striker lashed a low shot which goalkeeper Shay Given saved with his legs after Giggs' pass on 25 minutes.
Then, an unmarked Saha had a goal-bound header cleared off the line by skipper Scott Parker following a corner.
Against the run of play, the Magpies took the lead on 33 minutes with Milner whacking a 30-yard shot that flew past Van Der Sar into the top corner for his first league goal since September 2004.
Three minutes later, Saha limped off with a groin injury and was replaced by winger Park Ji-sung.
Newcastle could not hang on until half-time as Scholes played a one-two with Darren Fletcher before firing his shot into the corner from the edge of the box for the equaliser.
Roeder's side should have regained the lead in stoppage time after some shambolic defending from Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville.
Solano's cross found an unmarked Antoine Sibierski who placed his header from eight yards straight at Van Der Sar with the Dutchman saving the ball with his feet.
United exploded out of the blocks in the second half and took the lead 25 seconds after the interval.
Cristiano Ronaldo's low cross found Scholes whose shot beat the unsighted Given for his 11th career goal against the Magpies.
United continued to press with Fletcher's glancing header going inches over the crossbar from Giggs' cross on 54 minutes.
But against the run of play, rising star Edgar cut inside and blasted a 25-yard shot that deflected off Scholes and beat Van Der Sar.
Michael Carrick was brought on for the last 15 minutes for Fletcher as United looked to snatch three points.
The midfielder's first touch set up Wayne Rooney but the England striker capped off another below-par display by dragging his shot wide.
Seven minutes from time, Ronaldo's bullet header from Giggs' corner was dramatically headed off the line by Solano.
United's final chance fell to Park but the South Korean midfielder blasted his shot over the bar after a poor first touch as the Magpies clung on for a point.
United now have a seven point lead over Chelsea, who face Aston Villa tomorrow.