Lee Bowyer hit a controversial late equaliser as Birmingham City drew 1-1 with Manchester United in the Premier League at St Andrew's.

The midfielder slid home from close range with a minute of normal time remaining, but only after Nikola Zigic used his arm to knock the ball down.

Dimitar Berbatov had given United the lead on 58 minutes, and although they return to the top of the table on goal difference and end the year unbeaten, Sir Alex Ferguson's side will feel aggrieved after drawing their seventh Premier League game out of eight away from home.

A draw was probably the right result as Birmingham delivered a vigorous, organised performance with the visitors some way below their fluent best.

Birmingham's preparation time for this game was two weeks - United's just two days.

And Ferguson surprisingly named 10 of the players who started the Boxing Day win against Sunderland. The only change was enforced, as Darron Gibson replaced the Asian Cup-bound Park Ji-Sung.

Having seen Manchester City make five changes for the 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa that sent them top, Ferguson may have lamented his relative lack of squad depth, particularly with Nani injured and Wayne Rooney hopelessly out of sorts.

Rooney, who is still without a goal from open play this season, was shunted on to the left flank with Ryan Giggs unusually lining up on the right.

Rooney continues to cut a miserable figure, and hit several shots well off target while displaying a ragged first touch.

Can seven months of substandard performances really be called a 'dip in form', or is this just the player Wayne Rooney has become?

The closest either side came in the first half was from a fluke - Giggs crossed right-footed and his delivery threatened to loop over Ben Foster into the far corner, but the goalkeeper was just able to touch the ball onto the post.

Although the eventual save was impressive, Foster should not have had to make it, getting himself into trouble with questionable positioning when the cross was first hit.

Birmingham entered the game in 18th place, but did not look like relegation fodder as they played with organisation and purpose.

Craig Gardner, Barry Ferguson and Bowyer were typically feisty in midfield, while striker Cameron Jerome caused Nemanja Vidic some hairy moments - not least when the Serbian was booked for hauling the attacker down after getting beaten for pace.

Early in the second half, Gardner thrashed a volley goalwards but found the arms of Edwin van der Sar.

Then United took the lead as they finally attacked with some pace - Berbatov exchanged passes with Gibson and fired a low shot inside the near post.

Two minutes later he nearly repeated the trick, showing superb skill to beat Liam Ridgewell, but this time his shot came back off the post.

But Birmingham stayed in the game, and their pressure paid off late on. Zigic knocked the ball down for Bowyer, who slid the ball home from close range.

Van der Sar protested furiously at what he saw as a clear handball by Zigic - to make matters worse for United there may also have been an offside and a foul on Rio Ferdinand for good measure.

But the goal stood, and Birmingham salvaged a point.

Manchester United maintained their Premier League leadership with a routine 2-0 win against Sunderland at Old Trafford.

 Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring in the fifth minute, and was credited with a second goal on 57 minutes - although the ball was heading wide before taking a big deflection off Anton Ferdinand, who should be 'credited' with an own-goal.

Either way, United cruised to victory with their most fluent attacking performance of the season to date, and should have won by an even greater scoreline against a lacklustre Sunderland side.

Steve Bruce had not beaten his old boss Sir Alex Ferguson in 15 previous attempts as a manager, but took a positive approach at the 16th time of asking, picking strikers Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan in a 4-4-2 formation.

Sunderland missed the combative influence of the suspended Lee Cattermole in midfield, as his replacement Cristian Riveros and Jordan Henderson found themselves bypasses with ease by the Premier League leaders.

No less important was the absence of Danny Welbeck, who was so instrumental in the win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month - the forward was ineligible as he is on loan from United.

Ryan Giggs made just his sixth start of the season, but showed the craft and guile that made him the 2008/09 Player of the Season - not to mention last year's BBC Sports Personality.

It took less than five minutes for United to open the scoring with a delightful move. Giggs carried the ball 30 yards into the Sunderland half, then laid it off for Wayne Rooney on the right. The England striker clipped a perfect cross to the far post where Dimitar Berbatov arrived with an emphatic downward header - the striker marking his return to the first team with his 13th Premier League goal of the season.

It could and should have been more shortly afterwards. Rooney lifted a superb chip over Craig Gordon on 10 minutes but watched it drop agonisingly wide of the left-hand post. Then 60 seconds later Anderson played in Berbatov, whose shot cannoned back off the base of the woodwork.

The onslaught continued, and in the 15th minute Anderson rattled the underside of the bar with a curler from 20 yards.

Still United came, with Berbatov showcasing a remarkable piece of skill to keep the ball in play on the right and simultaneously ride a heavy Phil Bardsley challenge. He worked the ball, via Park Ji-Sung to Rooney, who brought a good save from Gordon.

Berbatov then shot into the side netting after receiving a brilliant Giggs pass, before Giggs himself forced Gordon into yet another save from the edge of the box - all this action coming in the first quarter of the game.

The excellent Anderson went close before half-time, as did Rooney, who nearly broke through with a playground-style dribble of 60 yards straight down the middle of the pitch.

Sunderland clearly needed an extra body in midfield at the expense of a forward, but it was not until the 69th minute, when they were two goals down, that Bruce brought on David Meyler for the anonymous Bent.

The second goal came after a magnificent piece of improvisation from Anderson, who saw an attempted through-ball blocked but received the rebound and played an audacious 'no-look' pass to Berbatov, whose cross-shot with the outside of his boot needed a hefty touch off Ferdinand to beat Gordon.

United enjoyed over 70 per cent possession in the second half, and could have added to their tally through an acrobatic Berbatov effort and a long-range Darron Gibson effort.

But it was plain sailing for the leaders, who remain unbeaten and are hitting ominous form.

LONDON - Peluang Manchester United untuk mendapatkan khidmat penjaga gol utama kelab Jerman, Schalke 04, Manuel Neuer kini kembali cerah.

Ia ekoran konflik dalaman yang melanda Bayern Munich yang sebelum ini turut menyatakan hasrat menandatangani kontrak dengan penjaga gol muda Jerman itu.

Ketika ini, United dan Bayern bersaing hebat bagi membawa masuk Neuer bersama kelab-kelab masing-masing.

Bagaimanapun, skuad The Red Devils dilihat mempunyai peluang yang lebih cerah setelah Bayern kini bergelut dengan beberapa konflik dalaman termasuklah prestasi tidak menentu yang dipamerkan mereka dalam saingan Liga Jerman.

Tatkala Presiden Bayern, Uli Hoeness serta Pengerusi, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge berhasrat untuk membawa masuk Neuer ke Allianz Arena, lain pula cerita dengan jurulatih kelab tersebut, Louis van Gaal.

Ini kerana, van Gaal masih mempertaruhkan kepercayaan kepada penjaga gol muda yang dimilikinya ketika ini, Thomas Kraft.

Disebabkan itu, ia memberi ruang buat pengurus United, Alex Ferguson untuk terus mengemukakan tawaran kepada Neuer.

Keputusan yang dibuat Ferguson dilihat sebagai salah satu langkah persediaan bagi menggantikan penjaga gol veteran The Red Devils, Edwin van der Saar yang dijangka bakal bersara tidak lama lagi.

Neuer yang masih lagi mempunyai kontrak bersama Schalke 04 sehingga 2012 dianggarkan bernilai £16 juta (RM 78.4315 juta). - Agensi

LONDON - Pengurus Manchester United, Alex Ferguson kecewa selepas skuad bimbingannya tewas 0-4 kepada West Ham United pada saingan suku akhir Piala Liga awal pagi semalam.

Tindakan Ferguson menyenaraikan ramai pemain simpanan telah mengundang padah apabila juara bertahan itu diaibkan skuad The Hammers di Upton Park.

Tomasz Kuszczak, Chris Smalling, Fabio, Bebe dan Gabriel Obertan gagal mempamerkan aksi cemerlang seperti mana yang mereka pamerkan ketika menewaskan Wolverhampton Wanderers pada pusingan ketiga lalu.

Pada perlawanan itu, bekas pemain pertahanan United, Jonathan Spector dan Carlton Cole masing-masing menjaringkan dua gol untuk menyingkirkan juara bertahan itu.

West Ham hampir mendahului pada minit ke-16 apabila rembatan Victor Obinna yang terkena Spector telah dibatalkan kerana pemain Amerika Syarikat itu berada pada posisi ofsaid.

"Sudah tentu saya tidak menjangkakan keputusan itu," kata Ferguson.

"Sekiranya kamu menganalisis jaringan yang kami boloskan, sudah tentu ia tidak sepatutnya berlaku.

"Kami tidak menjangkakan, ia adalah gol yang teruk buat kami. Kami memperoleh satu atau dua peluang dan percubaan Gabriel Obertan telah diselamatkan penjaga gol, Robert Green.

"Jaringan itu memusnahkan kami. Kamu tidak boleh memboloskan gol pada peringkat ini.

"Gol pertama adalah pencetus kemenangan bagi mereka. Pada awalnya, kami lebih banyak menguasai permainan. Tetapi jaringan itu telah mengubah permainan.

"Satu-satunya peluang terbaik kami adalah ketika jaringan mereka dibatalkan kerana ofsaid dan gol itu jelas ofsaid." - Agensi