Manchester United made an unconvincing start to the defence of their Premier League title as they were held at Old Trafford by an impressive Newcastle. The hosts were denied a penalty when James Milner appeared to handle, but Newcastle took a first-half lead when Obafemi Martins powered home a header.
Manchester United levelled only two minutes later when Darren Fletcher converted Ryan Giggs' left-wing cross.
Nemanja Vidic headed against the bar, but Newcastle fully deserved a point.
Magpies boss Kevin Keegan will be delighted with their committed performance, while Sir Alex Ferguson will surely now increase his efforts to buy a striker. His side's preparations were hit by the absence of striker Carlos Tevez, who flew home to Argentina following a family bereavement.
That led to Fraizer Campbell making his first Premier League start for the club, leading the line with Wayne Rooney who had recovered from a virus.
It was a frantic start to the game, proper end-to-end start-of-the-season stuff, with the two Uniteds taking it in turns to launch an attack.
The Red Devils thought they should have had a penalty when Giggs' free-kick struck Milner on the hand, while Shay Given remarkably saved Campbell's point-blank header with his own head.
Given made a magnificent double save too, from Rooney's low right-foot drive and then Paul Scholes' close-range follow-up.
But Newcastle, who were destroyed 6-0 in the corresponding fixture last season, were in no mood to lie down this time and they created a host of chances themselves. Impressive new signing Jonas Gutierrez should have had a free-kick on the edge of the United box when he was bundled over by Vidic, before they took the lead.
Milner swung over a corner from the right and Martins rose unchallenged to power a header past Edwin van der Sar and into the net.
But with defender Steven Taylor off the pitch receiving treatment, the home team almost immediately got themselves back on level terms. Giggs found space down the left and sent over a low cross, Fletcher timing his run to perfection to divert the ball past Given and into the net.
It had been a breathless first 25 minutes and as the tempo of the game began to slow, so did the number of chances on offer.
Ferguson's team have been notoriously slow starters for many a year now and their usually precise, swift counter-attacking was a touch off-key on the opening day. (BBC Sport )
