Disjointed in the first half, but dominant in the second, Manchester United last night recovered from a dreadful start against Chelsea to take a deserved point.
Chelsea ... 2 Manchester United ... 2: If the performance of their defence under pressure showed again that Rio Ferdinand cannot get back soon enough, anyone wondering about the desire of Alex Ferguson's players got an unequivocal answer.
Having fallen behind to an early William Gallas goal and found themselves 2-1 down at half-time after Boudewijn Zenden struck spectacularly in injury-time, United roused themselves to equalise through Ryan Giggs as Chelsea ran out of steam, lost their fluency and rarely threatened.
Recent history had suggested that United would emerge with at least a point. They had been beaten only once in their previous 10 visits - a 5-0 hammering in 1999 - and Ferguson had referred on the eve of the match to that "fantastic record".
Doubtless he had seen this as an opportunity for his players to show their doubters that talk of decline was misplaced. Defeat at Zalaegerszeg in a Champions League qualifier and a 1-0 victory at home to West Bromwich had suggested signs of cracks.
His team, moreover, could hardly have got off to a worse start. Less than three minutes had gone when Gallas steered Zenden's free-kick beyond Roy Carroll at the near post.
Roy Keane, so critical of his team-mates over recent months, was the defensive culprit, allowing Gallas to escape his attention.
Presumably he was left cursing his own lack of hunger.
There was no doubting Chelsea's determination, with Emmanuel Petit and Marcel Desailly starting in the manner that the home fans would like to see every week. Claudio Ranieri's players began at a fast tempo, seeking to pull to and fro a defence lacking key personnel in Ferdinand and Gary Neville, not to mention Fabien Barthez in goal.
Up front, Paul Scholes had been a peripheral figure up to the 26th minute, when Beckham equalised.
The build-up was hardly vintage United as Mickael Silvestre hit a long diagonal ball to the right-hand edge of the Chelsea area, but Beckham's finish was excellent striking a left-foot shot over Carlo Cudicini.
Hasselbaink should have scored from Zenden's pass and it would have been an unfair reflection on the first half had Giggs found the net rather than a post from Beckham's cross.
Instead, in stoppage-time, Zenden restored Chelsea's lead with a powerful left-foot shot from just outside the area after United, not for the first time, had failed to close the danger.
In the second half, the United pressure began to mount, sparked by a Scholes shot which forced Cudicini into a good low save.
United continued to pour forward and soon equalised. Silvestre was again the provider, this time using his speed and strength to beat Quique de Lucas down the left flank before crossing for Giggs to score with a first-time shot.
CHELSEA: Cudicini, Melchiot, Desailly, Gallas, Babayaro, Zenden, Lampard, Petit (Gronkjaer 75), De Lucas, Hasselbaink (Cole 80), Zola (Gudjohnsen 80). Subs Not Used: de Goey, Ferrer. Booked: Desailly, Hasselbaink, De Lucas. Goals: Gallas 3, Zenden 45.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Carroll, Phil Neville, Blanc, O'Shea, Silvestre, Beckham, Butt, Keane, Giggs (Veron 84), Scholes (Solskjaer 76), van Nistelrooy (Forlan 90). Subs Not Used: Williams, Tierney. Booked: Phil Neville, Beckham. Goals: Beckham 26, Giggs 66.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
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