Soccer/ Newcastle Utd 2 Manchester Utd 2:Until last night it is fair to say the overwhelming majority of the population, possibly Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho included, had not heard of David Edgar. They have now.

Now they know not just who the 19-year-old is but what he can do. That entails an ability to support his attack from left back, cut inside and from 25 yards use his right foot to shoot diagonally into the far corner. Edgar, not even in the 29 players listed on the back of the Newcastle United programme, has written his name into an increasingly beguiling Premiership title race.

It now moves on to Villa Park this evening, where Chelsea will begin seven points behind Manchester United. By 10pm it could be four and Mourinho might just express his gratitude to Edgar.

Born in Ontario, son of a former Newcastle goalkeeper, Eddie Edgar, David has been brought through the Newcastle academy and is rated highly. But he was only playing due to an injury crisis at St James' Park that is threatening to become a plague.

Edgar had been drafted in at Bolton on St Stephen's Day and played right back. That was his debut. Last night, in his first home game, he was at left back. He is a centre half by vocation.

But when James Milner, himself the scorer of an equally striking goal, ran into a dead-end on 74 minutes, he turned back and slipped the ball to Edgar. The teenager had been handed the daunting task of marking Cristiano Ronaldo and had been impressive in his diligence, particularly in the first half.

And when he accepted Milner's pass, Edgar strode forward nerveless, swerved inside into open space and drilled a shot across the penalty area. Paul Scholes, who had earlier provided an equaliser to Milner's opener and then put the visitors in front 23 seconds after half-time, got another significant touch. It was deft but it was enough to take the ball inside Edwin van der Sar's left-hand post.

It was already going to be a night to remember for Edgar; now it is one he will never forget. Mourinho may have burst into the Blaydon Races but Ferguson was sanguine rather than angry.

"It's a real challenge now for the championship," he said. "Chelsea are not getting their own way, the way they have done for the last two years. And there will be points dropped by both teams. But I have only praise for Newcastle, you have got to admire their spirit. We did have three cleared off the line, that's unlucky, and Ryan (Giggs) Louis Saha and Ji-Sung Park missed chances, but we didn't play as well as we have been. But that's because Newcastle didn't allow us to do that, they wanted to be first to every ball."

Newcastle's captain Scott Parker set the tone in midfield but ahead of him Obafemi Martins worked tirelessly, as did Antoine Sibierski. Behind the midfield in which 20-year-old Steven Taylor was the most experienced defender - Nolberto Solano being a midfield fill-in at right back - fought, headed, showed composure, rode their luck and thanked Shay Given.

While Roeder searched his academy for teenagers, Ferguson drafted in seven new starters from Saturday. Giggs and Saha were among them and their ninth-minute combination looked ominous. Giggs shot wide but Given then made a fine block from Saha, who immediately had a header cleared off the line by Parker.

Newcastle were struggling to involve Martins deep in the visitor's half but gradually they started to pass the ball. Milner had been prepared to run at Gary Neville, though there had been little hint he would jink inside to such effect in the 33rd minute. But Milner did that, found a yard and struck a perfect rising shot beyond the helpless Van der Sar from 20 yards.

The leaders may have been affronted rather than stunned and Given had to deny Wayne Rooney before Scholes' first in the 40th minute. It was a lovely move featuring Scholes, Giggs, Darren Fletcher and Scholes again. That was his fifth goal in his last five appearances at St James' and his sixth was not far away as he drove in a low effort, saw it clip Taylor and deflect past Given.

In between Scholes' goals Sibierski might have made it 2-1 to Newcastle and Park hit the outside of a post. Though the second half saw fewer chances - Ronaldo's header was nodded away by Solano and Park failed from seven yards - in terms of noise Edgar's variation raised the roof, and the stakes.

• Guardian Service

NEWCASTLE UTD:Given, Solano, Taylor, Huntington, Edgar, Dyer, Parker, Emre (Pattison 87), Milner, Martins, Sibierski. Subs not used: Srnicek, Luque, O'Brien, Carroll. Booked: Parker.

MANCHESTER UTD:Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Fletcher (Carrick 77), Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Saha (Park 36). Subs not used: Heaton, Heinze, O'Shea. Booked: Scholes, Neville.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).