Manchester United began the defence of their Premier League title with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle. The Magpies took the lead at Old Trafford when Obafemi Martins headed home on 22 minutes, only to see Darren Fletcher grab a leveller two minutes later. Kevin Keegan's men were bright throughout and profited from some slack United defending as they threatened to shock the Red Devils on the opening day.
James Milner swung over a corner from the right and Nigerian striker Martins escaped the attentions of Fletcher to nod a powerful effort past a helpless Edwin van der Sar. However, United's response was almost instant as Giggs floated the perfect ball towards the front post for Flecther to flick past Shay Given. Fraizer Campbell and Martins went close to forcing a further breakthrough after the interval, while Jonas Gutierrez looked lively on his Newcastle debut.
United thought they had won a penalty in injury-time when Nicky Butt hacked down Rodrigo Possebon, but referee Mike Riley judged the offence to have occurred outside the box. That ensured that both sides were forced to settle for point as defences came out on top.
Blunted
The Red Devils as a whole were a pretty fearful unit in the opening stages before their cutting edge was severely blunted. Giggs could easily have had a penalty when his early free-kick crashed into Milner, and Given was required to stand firm amid a barrage of United attacks. At one stage, Given even saved with his head as Paul Scholes flashed a shot goalwards. The hosts' problems were at the back against a Newcastle side aided in no small part by the excellence of one of their Argentinean new boys Gutierrez. Gutierrez's claims for a penalty when he was flattened by Nemanja Vidic were invalid - replays showing the former Real Mallorca player was outside the box - but by keeping the United defence on their toes, he seemed to unsettle their whole rearguard.
Certainly there was no excuse for failing to track Martins as he leapt alone to meet Milner's corner with enough power to send it past Scholes, who was trying to clear off the line. The pity for Newcastle was that their lead lasted just two minutes. Evra was getting forward even more than usual and fed Giggs, who struck a low cross to the near post. In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo - who was in the stands but will not be seen on the pitch until October - and his suspended compatriot Nani, Fletcher had been given a big hole to fill.
Determined
But the Scot is a determined character, and his eye for an opportunity was to be admired as he stole in to steer a first-time effort past Given. With the second half taking on a similar pattern to the first, United looked as likely to concede a second as score one. Martins tested Edwin van der Sar from long range - but then so did Fraiser Campbell as Given stretched once more to keep the youngster's shot out.
As Newcastle's confidence grew, so did United's problems. Already short of numbers, Giggs had clearly been troubled by his hamstring before he was replaced by young Brazilian Possebon. If Martins had been able to keep his header down from point-blank range after United had once again got their marking all wrong from a Milner corner, the hosts really would have been in trouble. As it was, an increasingly tired-looking Campbell tried his luck before Vidic - who had earlier pulled off a superb tackle to deny Gutierrez a clear run at goal - saw his downward header bounce up on to the crossbar.
Rooney floated a cross-shot on to the roof of Given's net near the end and, having also been booked, bent a free-kick round the post in stoppage time. But Newcastle were hardly under siege as they collected the point they deserved.