Manchester United dropped two more valuable points in their pursuit of leaders Arsenal after being held 0-0 at Birmingham City on Saturday.
Despite fielding four quality strikers -- Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha -- for much of the game, Alex Ferguson's team rarely looked like breaking down a stubborn City defence.
The draw means fourth-placed United, on 14 points, will trail Arsenal by 11 points if the champions beat Aston Villa at Highbury later on Saturday. Birmingham moved up a place to 14th on eight points.
Ferguson opted to leave Rooney on the bench after his midweek exertions for England but Van Nistelrooy did start and came desperately close to giving United the lead after 37 minutes of a poor first half.
Quinton Fortune crossed from the left and the Dutch striker, looking certain to score from point-blank range, sidefooted his shot into the feet of City keeper Maik Taylor.
Taylor saved well from Cristiano Ronaldo and Saha soon after but United were lacking fluency overall and 14 minutes into the second half Ferguson sent on Rooney for midfielder Kleberson.
Immediately, though, City striker Emile Heskey tested United keeper Roy Carroll and Birmingham, with Robbie Savage a constant menace in midfield, more than held their own against their illustrious opponents in the remaining half-hour.
Even the introduction of fit-again Paul Scholes late on could not spark the visitors, although Smith whistled a stoppage time drive just wide.
United's tally of five draws from nine games so far, however, speaks volumes for their lack of cutting edge in the Premier League.
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