Manager Sir Alex Ferguson was equally firm in his faith that Forlan would eventually come good and that was justified as the South American struck 13 minutes from time to grab a precious point.

Forlan's movement has never been questioned and when Mikael Silvestre floated over a left-wing cross, he found the space he needed to float a header beyond Peter Enckelman's despairing dive.

After disastrous own goals and disputed red cards, Enckelman has not been without his own problems this season but the Finn redeemed himself in the final frantic stages as United poured forward looking for a winner.

With Laurent Blanc and Rio Ferdinand committed to attack, David Beckham swung over a cross from the right. It could not have fallen to anyone better than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Norwegian met it perfectly, but so did Enckelman, flying to his left to tip over and ensure Villa's outstanding early efforts did not go unrewarded.

United went into the game on the back of an eight-match unbeaten record, reinforced in midweek with a win over Olympiakos which guaranteed a place in the second group stage of the Champions League.

With Villa boss Graham Taylor the hot tip to become the next top-flight manager to lose his job, even the most optimistic of visiting fans in the capacity crowd would have expected little other than a convincing home win.

However, the home problems started before the game, when Ryan Giggs, left on the bench after failing to recover from a niggling knee injury, declared he was not fit enough even to carry out that duty, Lee Roche drafted in as a late replacement.

Within the first 20 minutes, Paul Scholes and Beckham took heavy blows which left them on the fringes of play for substantial periods and placed more emphasis on the likes of Juan Sebastian Veron and Forlan, neither of whom had looked particularly convincing in Premiership combat.

Giggs' injury meant Forlan kept his place in the starting line-up, even though Solskjaer was back to full fitness but the Uruguayan, game as ever, was still finding the killer touch elusive.

As United's slick passing finally began to its range in the latter stages of the first half, Forlan drifted a header just over from Beckham's cross and then forced Enckelman into a fine save after wriggling his way into space on the edge of the area.

Beckham had also struck a crossbar by this stage and Solskjaer flashed a shot wide in stoppage time, so United could have held a sense of injustice at the interval scoreline, although their early play had been poor.

After an encouraging start in which Moore had flashed a shot wide and Dion Dublin volleyed over, Villa pressed forward with confidence, exposing a worrying hesitancy in the home defence, even with the return of record signing Ferdinand.

Moore sprung the offside trap from Dublin's flick-on and should not have given Fabien Barthez the chance to save with his feet, then Jlloyd Samuel blasted over after the French goalkeeper had failed to clear Mark Kinsella's corner.

Only Villa's complete inability to find a goal on their travels meant there was any surprise when Mellberg eventually found the net, the Swede exploiting a lack of United bodies at the far post to power home a firm header from another Kinsella corner after Blanc's attempt to run the ball away from danger had only seen the veteran Frenchman nod behind his own line.

It left Villa with the dilemma of either pushing forward for a match-winning second or sitting on what they had. Given United's goalscoring vulnerabilities, the latter option might have seemed more enticing than normal.

As it was, they were given little choice, with United forcing themselves forward in ever-increasing numbers.

Solskjaer volleyed a Mikael Silvestre cross wide before Veron drilled a 30-yard effort past the post.

Beckham, booked early in the second period for a foul on Barry, decided to get more involved, darting right and left in the search for space.

Twice the England skipper found Gary Neville on the right but on the first occasion Mark Delaney cleared for a corner and Solskjaer took a touch he did not need on the second and blasted his shot into a wall of Villa defenders.

United were struggling and needed inspiration. At last, Forlan provided it.