Alex McLeish came desperately close to inflicting a defeat upon former manager Sir Alex Ferguson as Birmingham City drew 1-1 at home to English champions Manchester United on Saturday.
Victory would have seen United go top of the Premier League, with leaders Chelsea not in action this weekend after their match against Hull City was one of seven fixtures to fall victim to the freezing conditions affecting Britain.
The result was made worse for United by the sight of Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher being sent off late on at St Andrews.
PHOTO: AFP
Cameron Jerome put Birmingham, now a club record 12 top-flight games unbeaten, ahead in the 39th minute, before Scott Dann’s second-half own-goal prevented the Blues from beating United for the first time in 31 years.
McLeish, who played in the trophy-winning Aberdeen side of the early 1980s managed by Ferguson, claimed before kick-off his former boss had mellowed with age and no longer threw too many teacups.
It would have been no surprise, however, if the floor of the visitors’ dressing room had been covered in shards of pottery at halftime after what must have been the worst 45 minutes produced by a United side in several years.
PHOTO: REUTERS
If Ferguson was less than impressed with the performance of his team in the shock FA Cup defeat by third-tier Leeds United seven days earlier, this was worse when you consider the Scot had ripped up the starting 11 from Old Trafford and made no fewer than seven changes in an attempt to correct what he hoped a mere blip.
United were fortunate to only be a solitary goal behind at the break, after an insipid 45 minutes that highlighted how ineffective they can be without Cristiano Ronaldo.
The visitors created just one clear chance when Joe Hart saved superbly at the feet of Wayne Rooney, following Antonio Valencia’s 30m diagonal pass.
Birmingham’s relentless endeavor and determination to frustrate United deserved some kind of tangible reward just 24 hours after McLeish collected the poisoned chalice of the manager of the month award for last month and it came six minutes before the interval.
Lee Bowyer’s sheer will to beat Rafael to James McFadden’s corner underlined United’s tentative defensive work. That was compounded when Johnny Evans instinctively stuck out a leg and diverted the ball directly into the path of Jerome, 5m out, and the striker accepted the gift for his fifth goal of the campaign.
If it hadn’t been for the poor awareness and execution of Ecuador striker Christian Benitez, Jerome could have doubled the lead moments later after his partner was unable to find the correct pass in a two-on-one situation.
Whatever Ferguson said during the interval appeared to go unheeded and only a fine save from Tomas Kuszczak prevented Benitez from putting Birmingham 2-0 in front.
It was a turning point and United, without finding any fluency, somehow managed to find an equalizer.
Even then they needed the assistance of the unfortunate Dann, who did not deserve to be the victim after a sterling performance alongside Roger Johnson at the heart of the Blues defense.
Patrice Evra fizzed a center back across goal after Johnson and Bowyer had thrown themselves into blocks on the edge of their own area.
Dann instinctively stuck out a leg to prevent the cross reaching Rooney at the far post, but only succeeded in turning the ball beyond Hart and into his own net.
It was one of the few things that went right for Ferguson in a worrying performance so soon after the Leeds debacle and United’s display was summed up when Fletcher — already booked for a crude challenge on Bowyer — was dismissed by referee Mark Clattenburg for a second yellow card after a foul on Jerome three minutes from time.
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