Birmingham City 1 - Manchester United 1

Manchester United missed out on the chance to displace Chelsea at the top of the table when they became the latest victims of a splendid resurgence that leaves Birmingham unbeaten in their past 12 league games.

Cameron Jerome gave the Blues the lead with his fifth goal of the season and it took a contentious own-goal by Scott Dann to salvage a point and spare United what would have been their fourth defeat in the past seven matches. To compound Sir Alex Ferguson's irritation, Darren Fletcher was sent off in the 84th minute for a second yellow card.

It may not have seemed like it when the fixture list was first published back in the summer, but this match was now significant for both teams. Birmingham were keen to extend the unbeaten run that have made them unlikely contenders for a place in Europe, while United needed to buttress form that had been damaged by three defeats in six matches - two of them at so-called fortress Old Trafford.

Both managers made their priorities clear last weekend when they rested key players in the FA Cup. There was no question of that here, and their respective line-ups were at full strength. Alex McLeish recalled Dann, Lee Bowyer, Sebastian Larsson, James McFadden and Christian Benítez, and had the experienced Stephen Carr back after suspension, which equated to an unchanged 11 for the ninth consecutive league game. Ferguson, still incensed by the Cup humiliation against Leeds (who could only draw at home to Wycombe in League One yesterday), dropped the young reserves who had been found wanting and, notably, Dimitar Berbatov, who was not even among the seven substitutes. Michael Owen was on the bench and must be wondering what he has to do to get into the starting line-up. Ditto those of us still nurturing fond memories of Owen and Wayne Rooney in partnership for England at Euro 2004.

In the absence of Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, who were both on the bench, Patrice Evra was elevated to the captaincy - a fitting honour for the best left-back in the country on current form. The Old Reliable, aka Paul Scholes, was allocated a holding role, screening the back four.

Some regarded this as the acid test for Birmingham's improvement, but they have undergone more of those than litmus recently. Their impenetrable defence held Chelsea goalless on Boxing Day, did the same against Manchester City and had conceded four goals in their previous nine games. If injuries continue to deprive England of centre-halves, Fabio Capello could do worse than take a look at Roger Johnson, the Blues' only ever-present this season. A body-on-the-line defender in the John Terry mould, Johnson has been consistently outstanding since his cheap-as-chips transfer from Cardiff, where he was a key figure in their underdogs' run to the FA Cup final in 2008.

As might have been expected, United made the running, but Birmingham were organised. The first attack of consequence was delayed until the 24th minute, when Liam Ridgewell carelessly conceded possession and Antonio Valencia's through pass left Rooney one-on-one with Joe Hart on the edge of the six-yards box. The England striker would normally be odds-on favourite in such situations, but Hart is playing as well as any goalkeeper in the league these days, and improvised an important save with his feet. On United's next incursion, Park Ji-sung accelerated into the penalty area and was shut out by Carr's last-ditch intervention. The Korean's claims that he had been fouled were so blatantly spurious he was fortunate not to be booked.

Birmingham had their backs to the wall for long periods, tackling and blocking as if their lives depended on it, but their indefatigable spirit had its reward in the 39th minute, when McFadden's corner from the right brought an ineffective attempt at a headed clearance from Jonny Evans, enabling Bowyer to transfer the ball to Jerome, who thumped it home gleefully at whites-of-the-eyes range. The goal was another reminder to United -as if any was needed - that not until they have Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic back in harness will they start to keep clean sheets with any regularity again.

Confidence coursing, Birmingham had another chance after 48 minutes when Benítez profited from indecision in the United defence to get off a shot which, although venomous, was straight at Tomasz Kuszczak, who nevertheless needed two attempts to claim it.

Ferguson had a "beam me up" look as the snow started to flurry, increasing his discomfort on the bench. Out on the pitch, Jerome wasted a promising position with a dreadful final pass and within a minute there was pandemonium when, after a pinball sequence in the Birmingham penalty area, a shot from Evra was diverted into his own net by Dann, under pressure from Rooney. Birmingham claimed offside against the England striker and the referee's assistant flagged in agreement, only to be overruled because it had been the central defender's contact. Johnson was injured in the mêlée. Unfazed, Birmingham hit back, with Benítez demanding a decent save. Giggs replaced Park midway through the second half.

Fletcher, already booked, was sent off for tripping Jerome with seven minutes of normal time remaining, and against 10 men Johnson threatened to win it for Birmingham with a volley, well saved.

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