A goal from Welshman Ched Evans helped the Blades to open the npower Championship with hard fought draw in the Welsh capital.

The Blades could have gone on to collect all three points in front of the Sky cameras at Cardiff City had the performance not been hampered by a debatable red card shown to youngster Matt Lowton in the first half.

United defended majestically, particularly in the second half, and thoroughly deserved to repeat the scoreline of the only previous meeting between the sides at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Britton and Ertl were handed their first competitive starts, whilst Lowton was given the nod over Kozluk at right-back. The personnel selected by Blackwell offered flexibility but it was quickly apparent that Evans was up front, closely supported by Britton down the middle and Cresswell and Yeates from the flanks. Montgomery and Quinn took up the holding midfield roles and Ertl partnered in Morgan in central defence.

Both benches were sparse, with United naming six - including youngsters James and Chapell - whilst Cardiff could only find four bodies.

After a frantic start, with both sides looking to stamp an early authority, Taylor won the first corner of the game for United and it almost resulted in the lead. Goalkeeper Marshall failed to deal with Ward's delivery and McNaughton's headed clearance clipped the top of his own crossbar.

Chopra placed the ball past Simonsen and into the net on 12 minutes but he clearly fouled Ertl in the build up, although referee Walton took his time before awarding a free-kick to the visitors. Burke, from the right, looked a threat for and Bothroyd won early headers for Cardiff.

However, the first opportunity for United to put a few passes together resulted in the first goal. The Blades refused to rush around the home side's penalty area and although there was no penalty award when Gyepes connected with Evans, the momentum continued. Britton kept the ball alive in box and picked his moment to play in EVANS, who did the rest, directing beyond Marshall.

Ertl did well to head away Blake's cross with Bothroyd lurking and Whittingham curled a free-kick into the side-netting as Cardiff looked to hit back. At the other end Ward's powerful left-footer, following another Taylor cross, needed pushing out by Marshall.

The temperature then rose ten minutes before the interval, following a whole hearted challenge between McNaughton and Lowton. The young Blades defender was slightly late but was shocked to see referee Walton show him a red card and shout 'get off' in his face. Protests and counter protests ensued, which resulted in bookings for Bothroyd and Evans, before the restart. Of course, United needed to reshape and Ward dropped to right-back as Blackwell adopted a 4-4-1 formation.

Understandably, the visitors slowed down the action and played out the four minutes of injury-time without further problems, especially when Simonsen comfortably collected Whittingham's free-kick.

United began the second half as they ended the first with Ward as an auxiliary full-back. Quinn and Taylor were in the right place at the right time to stop promising Cardiff attacks and Hudson headed wide a Whittingham corner.

Using their numerical advantage, Cardiff saw more of the second period ball and they worked a leveller just after the hour. Blake's delivery down the right channel tempted Simonsen off his line but the pacey Chopra danced around the goalkeeper and then found BOTHROYD with a perfect cross for his strike partner to direct the ball between Ward and Morgan, who had positioned themselves on the goal-line.

Simonsen was quick to make amends, racing to the edge of his penalty area to prevent McCormack latching on to Burke's pass and then he collected Chopra's cross. The United goalkeeper also made two saves in the space of a couple of minutes, dropped to his right to save from McCormack and then to his left to keep out Chopra's shot.

Blackwell made a double change, introducing ex Barnsley duo Kozluk and Bogdanovic, which enabled Ward to revert to his midfield role.

With the momentum clearly with the home side, United were intent on protecting a share of the spoils but Simonsen had to be at his best to beat away shots from both Blake and Burke. Ward was booked for slowing down the action but the visitors continued with the attacks on the Blades goal.

Into the last ten minutes, an unmarked McCormack headed weakly at Simonsen from a deep Burke cross and then Whittingham fired over the crossbar from 20 yards. The tiring Ward was replaced by Yeates late on and five minutes of added time was announced to encourage the home side.

The Blades were still on the back foot in the additional period - and there were a number of nervous moments, including a couple of corners - before the final whistle signalled that United were off the mark in terms of a point on the board.

Cardiff: Marshall, McNaughton, Rae (McCormack 54), Hudson, Gyepes, Whittingham, Chopra, Bothroyd, Burke, Drinkwater, Blake.
Unused: Gerrard, Heaton, Matthews.

Blades: Simonsen, Montgomery, Morgan, Ertl, Britton (Kozluk 68), Evans (Bogdanovic 68), Taylor, Cresswell, Ward (Yeates 88), Quinn, Lowton.
Unused: Aksalu, James, Chapell.