United held by Toon

Manchester United's desperate need for a striker was laid bare at Old Trafford as the Barclays Premier League champions began their title defence in disappointing fashion with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.

Sir Alex Ferguson is unlikely to get too stressed at the loss of two points, given United finished top last term despite collecting only two from their opening three games.

But he ended the match with Patrice Evra providing Wayne Rooney with support up front after seeing Darren Fletcher equalise Obafemi Martins' opener.

He will also know that, unless the gap in his desired pool of four forwards can be filled before the transfer window closes in a fortnight, it may be asking too much of his team to complete a championship hat-trick.

The hosts also had problems at the back against a Newcastle side aided in no small part by the excellence of one of their Argentinian new boys Jonas Gutierrez.

Gutierrez's claims for a penalty when he was flattened by Nemanja Vidic were invalid - replays showing the former Real Mallorca player was outside the box - but by keeping the United defence on their toes, he seemed to unsettle their whole rearguard.

Certainly there was no excuse for failing to track Martins as he leapt alone to meet James Milner's corner with enough power to send it past Paul Scholes, who was trying to clear off the line.

The pity for Newcastle was that their lead lasted just two minutes.

Evra was getting forward even more than usual and fed Giggs, who struck a low cross to the near post.

Fletcher stole in to steer a first-time effort past Given.