Birmingham 1-1 Man Utd
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EmailFootball: "We are unbeatable" was the cry from Blues supporters as Birmingham broke a century-old record to go unbeaten in 12 top-flight matches as 10-man United failed to regain top spot.
Despite having taken the lead through Cameron Jerome's first half tap in, Alex McLeish was "delighted" with the point after the unfortunate Scott Dann slid the ball into his own net.
To say McLeish has found a solution to Birminghams' early season blues is an understatement.
The Scot's starting XI, now unchanged in nine Premier League matches, was the same as when the run started.
A 2-1 victory against Sunderland at the end of October then lifted the club only to a lowly 15th.
But now, 10 weeks later, City are level on points with Liverpool, using the same 11 players in all but two league matches.
Alex Ferguson should take note of his fellow Scot's consistent team sheet.
The United boss has failed to name an unchanged line up for the 100th consecutive match. It showed as, despite having two thirds of the possession, United struggled to make an impact.
The visitors' best chance to lead came from a beautiful cross by Luis Antonio Valencia midway through the first half. Wayne Rooney took one touch before trying to slot past Joe Hart, but the young English shot-stopper made himself too big a target to beat.
Lee Bowyer headed Patrice Evra's partial clearance goalward five minutes from the interval, but Johnny Evans could only tap clear to the waiting Jerome who couldn't miss from six yards giving the hosts a surprise half-time lead.
United still enjoyed the lion's share of possession and got the breakthrough on the hour.
Evra drilled a ball across goal and Dann unluckily put through his own net, although there was some doubt over the goal as the linesman flagged before being overruled by referee Mark Calttenburg.
United were forced to endure six minutes of stoppage time after the goal controversy with 10-men after Darren Fletcher needlessly tripped Jerome having already been booked.
The Red Devils comfortably held out to move to within a point of leaders Chelsea, who, despite not playing due to the big freeze, were the weekend's big winners, as both their title rivals were held in the only two matches to escape the cold weather.
