Cristiano Ronaldo hobbled away from Villa Park lifting an index finger to indicate to those baiting him that he remains, in his humble opinion, the No 1 player. Unfortunately for him, Manchester United can no longer be certain of calling themselves the No 1 team.

In Aston Villa’s latest audition for a place in the Barclays Premier League’s “big four”, Martin Laursen, Curtis Davies and Co kept a third clean sheet of the season against the elite, of whom only Chelsea have breached Brad Friedel’s goal. So it comes as no surprise that Martin O’Neill’s team have encroached upon the sacred ground that is usually the sole preserve of United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

That Ronaldo — he is likely to miss the Champions League game away to Villarreal tomorrow — felt the need to raise a digit to his doubters might suggest that he felt he was subjected to overphysical attention, but Villa have earned the right to compete with the best teams. The Portugal forward was injured after a challenge from Stiliyan Petrov, which was not given as a foul.

The manner in which Villa pressed the champions, especially in the second half, indicated that they are ready to take advantage should Arsenal continue to falter. They can live with the best; now they need to beat the rest. Fulham visit Villa Park on Saturday.

Ronaldo may be able to claim that he is the world’s No 1 player, but it is as a team that Chelsea have the edge and it is as a unit that Villa are unquestionably in the hunt for a top-four place behind them.

This is first time O’Neill has avoided defeat in seven meetings with United in two years, ending Villa’s 14-match losing run against these opponents, and they deserved to follow up their splendid victory over Arsenal with a hard-earned point.

United may have spurned the invitation to make up ground on their title rivals, after Arsenal lost and Liverpool and Chelsea were held, but as Edwin van der Sar, their goalkeeper, said: “You can look at all the records of how long it is since Villa beat us, but it’s still a hard place to come. They proved they have the quality to make it difficult for teams.”

Brad Friedel, playing his 166th successive Premier League game, to equal David James’s record, has kept back-to-back clean sheets against “big four” opponents. He made a fine save to repel Ronaldo’s early shot and was fortunate when Wayne Rooney blasted wide in the second half, but while United dominated the first period, Villa forced their way back into an absorbing game.

There was a physical element to their approach, but while Ronaldo, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand went down early in the second period, requiring treatment, none was for a foul. And the key moment of the game arrived when Gabriel Agbonlahor, England’s newest centre forward, outpaced Nemanja Vidic to run on to Barry’s pass down the left channel only to be fouled twice on his way into the area. It might have been a penalty; it was certainly a red-card offence, with Vidic the last defender.

James Milner might still have won the game as he hoodwinked his way to the byline, but Ferdinand cleared the danger. That O’Neill sounded disappointed afterwards speaks volumes of the progress his team are making. “This is not a one-game wonder where you raise yourselves and then drop into mediocrity,” he said. “If you are going to try and compete and get there, you have to be consistent. We had a big disappointment at Newcastle and then got beaten by Middlesbrough. For us to be treated seriously, we have to win a game when it’s hard.

“There’s a lot of pleasure to be had, playing brilliantly, but the other thing is something we have to learn.”

Even with Manchester City next up, United will not have many sturdier tests than this on their domestic travels, but Van der Sar emphasised that eight points, with a game in hand, is not an insurmountable deficit for a team accustomed to making a run after Christmas to win titles. “We have to make sure we stay at this distance or get a little bit closer and then next year we can push on,” he said.

Aston Villa ratings (4-5-1): B Friedel 7 N Reo-Coker 6 C Davies 7 M Laursen 7 L Young 6 J Milner 8 S Sidwell 6 S Petrov 7 G Barry 7 A Young 7 G Agbonlahor 7 Substitute: J Carew (for Sidwell, 81min) Not used: B Guzan, M Harewood, Z Knight, M Salifou, N Shorey, C Gardner. Next: Fulham (h)

Manchester United ratings (4-4-2): E van der Sar 7 J O’Shea 6 R Ferdinand 7 N Vidic 6 P Evra 6 Park Ji Sung 7 M Carrick 7 R Giggs 6 C Ronaldo 6 W Rooney 7 C Tévez 6 Substitutes: Nani (for Tévez, 71min), Anderson (for Ronaldo, 82). Not used: T Kuszczak, D Welbeck, Rafael da Silva, J Evans, D Gibson. Next: Man City (a).