Half-time Update: Birmingham City 0-0 Manchester United

Birmingham City and Manchester United went into half-time level in a half that either side could have edged.

There were hardly any surprises in the Manchester United line-up, other than the decision by Sir Alex Ferguson to start Darron Gibson out on the right. Ryan Giggs kept his place out on the left, which meant Paul Scholes, Nani and Park Ji-Sung were all missing from the travelling squad.

It was the home side that created the first chance of the game in the 2nd minute. Seb Larsson raced beyond Patrice Evra at left-back before whipping a superb ball into the box. Cameron Jerome rose in the middle of the box but could only send his header high over the bar.

United’s first chance of the game took eight minutes to arrive. Wayne Rooney dropped off from the front of attack to pick the ball up in the midfield. The striker turned quickly before shooting from 25 yards but his shot bounced well wide of the goal.

Rooney looked lively was in the play again a few minutes lively. This time he dropped out to the left and controlled the ball well before cutting inside. Another 20 yard shot flew towards the goal but Ben Foster got down well to smother the ball and see off the danger.

United were starting to dominate and should have gone ahead in the 18th minute when Ryan Giggs hit the post. The Welshman picked the ball up out wide and looped in a cross, which was poorly hit and rattled the woodwork as Foster scrambled to get a touch on the ball.

However, Birmingham stuck at it and Larsson missed a good chance to put his side on front on 22 minutes. Michael Carrick gave away a clumsy free kick on the edge of the area and Larsson curled the set piece inches over the cross bar as Edwin Van Der Saar stood and watched.

Giggs had another good effort on the half an hour mark but it was much of the same for his team. He drove inside from the right and had a shot on goal. There was plenty of speed and zip on the ball but it was straight at Foster who went down easily to gather.

Birmingham defender Roger Johnson missed a good opportunity to score on 34 minutes. The ball was sent in from the left as Birmingham but some pressure following a corner. However, Johnson lent back and his header looped over the bar.

The home side were really pressing in the build up to half-time and Craig Gardner went close with a long range effort. His shot from 30 yards took a slight deflection off Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic, which had Van Der Saar scrambling across his goal. Gardner missed again on 42 minutes when he blasted over from a good lay off by Lee Bowyer.

The draw now looks a very good bet at 7/4, a United win is a best price of 4/5 and Birmingham are 13/2 to win. Rooney looks good for a goal at 9/5 to score at any point.