Portsmouth held Manchester United to a 1-1 draw in an action packed match that saw both the teams reduced to 10 men in the finals minutes of the fixture at Fratton Park on Wednesday.

United took the lead with a trademark Paul Scholes goal in the 15th minute but were unable to add to the tally in spite of dominating the first half. Shrewd tactical and personnel changes at the start of the second half saw Portsmouth take advantage of United's missed chances to equalize through Benjani Mwaruwari before a late drama saw two players sent off in 2 minutes as both the teams ended the match with 10 men on the field.

Having drawn their first match against Reading, United came out with an attacking line up with Sir Alex Ferguson giving starting debuts to new signings Nani and Carlos Tevez. Martin Cranie made his debut for Portsmouth in absence of Lauren while new signing Sylvain Distin was named as captain.

United went on attack early in the game, with Portsmouth defense unable to cope with Tevez, Nani and Ronaldo. It was the link up between the two new signings that led to the first goal. A cross from Nani at the left wing found Tevez on the edge of the penalty area and the Argentine clever slid the ball towards the onrushing Scholes who smashed home the ball past a hapless David James from 20 yards out.

United had a great chance of doubling the lead immediately at the start of the second half when Nani's low drive was stopped brilliantly by James and Tevez made a hash of the rebound, shooting over the bar. Harry Redknapp immediately went on the offensive, bringing in Matthew Taylor and Djimi Traore to replace Pedro Mendes and Martin Cranie.

The substitutions did the trick as Portsmouth pulled level in the 53rd minute when Taylor's cross was met on the head by Benjani and Van der Sar was left helpless as the ball flew into the net. United pushed ahead in search of the lead, with Giggs and Ronaldo coming close, but thwarted by an alert James.

United got a break in the 83rd minute when Sulley Muntari was shown a second yellow card for a tackle on Michael Carrick. But the visitors themselves were reduced to 10 men two minutes later when Ronaldo was shown as straight red for head butting Richard Hughes following an exchange of words.

United next face a short trip to City of Manchester Stadium when they face Manchester City on Sunday while Portsmouth will be looking for their first win of the season when they face Bolton Wanderers on Saturday. Watch Premiership matches live on free-football.tv.