THOSE Manchester United fans who thought the title race was already over bar the shouting were left choking on their prawn sarnies last night after Graeme Souness's promotion heroes struck a major blow for the rest of the Premiership.

Sir Alex Ferguson's charges may still be red-hot favourites with the bookies to retain the crown they won by a whopping 10 points last season.

But anyone expecting them to canter to their fourth successive title had better start thinking again after a resurgent Rovers uncovered some gaping cracks in the champions armoury on a night of high drama at Ewood.

It's not often Fergie feels the need to lay into his players but the red-faced Scot felt moved enough to unleash his second verbal volley in the space of a week after it took a hotly-disputed late equaliser from the right boot of David Beckham to finally save his side's bacon in the most controversial of circumstances.

Souness -- quite justifiably -- felt as if he had been mugged afterwards .

But, when the dust finally settles after what was a truly epic encounter, he will surely look back on a display full of guts, character and determination and take heart from a performance which suggests Rovers have absolutely nothing to fear in the top flight.

"I wasn't sure if my pills were working tonight but I thought it was a great game of football," said the Rovers boss.

"We were playing against one of the best teams around in the world today and we knew we were going to spend a lot of time without the ball, which turned out to be the case.

"But I'm thrilled for the lads because of the way we came back from the dead.

"It was a bit like watching a boxer who had taken a beating but he got up from his stool and got himself back into the fight.

"And that was us in the second half."

This game had everything -- stunning goals, dubious refereeing decisions, dodgy defending and some scintillating attacking play.

And those daring to question Rovers' Premiership credentials before kick-off were soon scoffing down the humble pie after a performance which spoke volumes for the amazing transformation overseen by Souness during the last 12 months.

There were times in the first half when United looked truly awesome thanks to some phenomenal movement in midfield.

The illusive Paul Scholes was at the hub of most of their best work, creeping about like a cat-burglar in the hole behind Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

But if United were tasty going forward, then they looked increasingly susceptible at the back -- a point unlikely to have gone unnoticed at the scouse end of the M62.

The platform for Rovers' success was built on the midfield partnership of Alan Mahon and Garry Flitcroft who proved to be more than a match for the best midfield in the world.

But wide-men Damien Duff and Keith Gillespie also played a massive part, too, bombing up and down the flanks to provide a stream of crosses which set the alarm bells ringing in a jittery United defence.

And for Gillespie in particular, it was very nearly a fairytale night after his second half screamer threatened to sink his old club until Beckham -- who else? -- had the final say.

But all Souness's players to a man deserve immense credit after making a significant contribution in what was very much a team performance.

And if Saturday's fare against Tottenham is half as appetising then the home fans are in for another tasty treat.

Clearly fired up after Saturday's late shenanigans at Derby, Rovers came roaring out of the blocks and could have taken a shock lead inside the opening 30 seconds when Gillespie forced Fabien Barthez into a flying save.

And a shaky United defence then survived another let-off 18 minutes later when new £6.75 million signing Ciccio Grabbi somehow scuffed his shot wide from inside the six yard box with the goal at his mercy.

That miss was to prove costly as United took the lead a minute later, Ryan Giggs taking a majestic through ball from the twinkle-toed Juan Veron effortlessly in his stride before firing high into Brad Friedel's top left hand corner.

For the next 25 minutes United occupied a different plane as the slippery Scholes rattled a post and Friedel pushed a Beckham free kick onto the crossbar.

But Rovers were far from dead and buried.

Grabbi led the revival after the break, jostling Barthez off the ball before bending an exquisite finish into an empty net only for an over-zealous linesman to rule the effort out for a foul.

But that seemed to lift the whole team and Rovers were back on level terms in the 49th minute when Alan Mahon whipped over a free kick from the right which skimmed off the head of Beckham and into the bottom corner.

With United's suspect defence now looking increasingly vulnerable, Henning Berg thundered a header against the bar and Grabbi fired wide again before Ewood erupted on 69 minutes to acclaim a wonder strike from Gillespie.

There appeared to be little danger when the former United man retrieved a Stig Bjornebye cross but he outfoxed Mikael Silvestre on the right before unleashing an unstoppable drive which ripped past Barthez from 18 yards.

Ferguson's response was immediate as he threw on both Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke.

And within minutes of their introduction Craig Short was sent off for his second bookable offence after a late challenge on Yorke.

As Rovers reorganised, Beckham sensed his chance, lofting a cheeky free-kick over Friedel as the keeper was lining up his wall -- a cruel finish to a quite astonishing night.

"When you're down 1-0 and getting an absolute doing you're going to do something about it, either emotionally or physically," said Ferguson.

"And I warned them about that at half-time.

"But we didn't react at all to it. There was a carelessness and slackness to our play which was unbelievable.

"And in that 15 minute period after half-time we deserved to get punished.

"So from a position of control we then ended up having to scramble to get a point out of the game."

Somewhere buried in there might just be a compliment.

RESULT:

ROVERS...2 MAN UNITED...2

Beckham (og) 49, Gillespie 69... Giggs 20, Beckham 78

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