Super sub Alan Smith rescued a point for below par Manchester United with a late equaliser after injury-hit Middlesbrough looked set to leave Old Trafford with an unlikely victory.
Boro were little over nine minutes away from securing their third win at United in four seasons when Smith struck his sixth goal of the season.
The striker enhanced his claims for a starting spot when he rose to meet Cristiano Ronaldo's right-wing cross and headed wide of the reach of visiting keeper Mark Schwarzer.
It was cruel on battling Boro, who had come so close to causing one of the season's great upsets as Stewart Downing's first-half goal looked set to inflict United's first home defeat of the season.
Steve McClaren's side, which was without seven senior players, produced a gutsy display to earn their point.
Strikers Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka were among the absentees who also included Michael Reiziger, Franck Queudrue, Ugo Ehiogo, Ray Parlour and Joseph-Desire Job.
Anthony McMahon and James Morrison were handed their full Premiership debuts, but were not overawed by the size of the task which confronted them.
Playing a cautious 4-5-1 system, Boro packed the midfield and cut down the space afforded to the home side, which struggled to find the fluency achieved in the 6-2 Champions League victory over Fenerbahce five days ago.
It turned out to be a frustrating afternoon for Sir Alex Ferguson's side which only produced any real sign of their true form in the final half-hour.
Early on it looked like the Red Devils would have little difficulty overcoming Boro as Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy all had decent openings.
The visitors defended strongly and then caught United on the counter in the 33rd minute.
Morrison broke on the right and his cross cut open the home defence, with Downing stealing in at the far post to smash his shot back across the face of goal and into the top corner.
Wayne Rooney, who scored a debut hat-trick in midweek, offered little in the opening 45 minutes. His most notable contribution was a shot which ballooned over the crossbar.
Boro ought to have sealed victory midway through the second half when Gaizka Mendieta, their outstanding player, found himself free in the box. However, the Spaniard blazed over the crossbar to leave McClaren standing in disbelief in the directors' box.
It proved to be a costly miss.
Ferguson brought on Smith for John O'Shea with 22 minutes to go and his arrival lifted the home side, who almost immediately hit the crossbar with a van Nistelrooy header.
The Dutchman also missed another great chance after being put through by Rooney, firing over the bar.
However, the waves of United attacks eventually paid off when Smith made the long-awaited breakthrough in the 81st minute.
In the closing stages it was backs to the wall defending by Boro as they stood up to a constant stream of pressure.
Apart from one chance, which fell to Gary Neville, the Boro back-line, superbly marshalled by captain Gareth Southgate, managed to keep the home side at bay.