Michael Hegarty fired a shot over the bar and then Tommons unleashed a shot into the hands of Murphy as the Bannsiders tried to get back into the game.
Ched Evans went close with a header and Daniel Sturridge's shot hit the bar.
Cushley saw his shot clip the bar before Kelbie put United ahead five minutes after the break.
Josh Thompson blazed a shot over the bar after Georgios Samaras had nodded down a Lee Naylor corner.
The first chance came within a minute of kick-off as Bolton midfielder Gary Speed's powerful shot cleared the bar.
Motherwell keeper John Ruddy deflected a Samaras shot off the bar after the Greece international struck from close range.
Yakubu smashed a shot against the bar and as Downing collected the rebound, he was bundled over in the box.
Rankin's shot against the bar and Joel Porter's lob wide were the only other incidents of note in the first half.
Murphy summed up their frustration when he was put clear through by Jones only to skew his shot over the bar.
Berbatov also hit the post with a drive and Anderson crashed a shot against the bar as United created chances at will.
The striker took a look up and saw an advancing Behrami, who smacked his shot off the bar from five yards out.
As the match swung from end to end, Blackstock saw a header drift wide and Campbell lofted a shot over the bar.
Defoe's 25-yard shot was easy for Marcus Hahnemann, Craddock's intervention helped Robbie Keane's shot over the bar and the Irishman later headed over.
Tevez curled a shot over the bar from 12 yards after creating an opening, before Sheffield United's Colin Kazim-Richards wasted a glorious opportunity.
BBC: SPORT | Football | Premiership | Sheff Utd 3-0 West Ham
The centre forward was thwarted again five minutes later when De Vries tipped his shot over the bar after Lennon's perfect through ball.
BBC: SPORT | Football | Scottish Premier | Dunfermline 1-2 Celtic
Basle continued to fight for their lives and Frei drilled a shot against the bar before Streller angled Valentin Stocker's corner past Schwarzer.
Bullard could have sealed it when he found himself with just the keeper to beat only to thrash his shot over the bar.
The goal spurred Perm into action and Zamora had to clear from Nikola Drincic and Schwartzer tipped Dmitry Belorukov's shot over the bar.
From another corner the former Portsmouth player then blazed a shot over the bar when he mis-controlled a good chance in the penalty box.
Cadete almost snatched all three points in the dying minutes, but the Villa keeper did just enough to tip his shot over the bar.
Palace's other full-back Danny Butterfield also caught the eye and was unlucky to see his speculative shot hit the bar in the opening half.
Flo wasted a great chance to equalise, nipping in front of Shaw to meet Emerson Thome's through-ball but lifting his shot over the bar.
Joe Cole's shot hit the bar as United, who lost Nemanja Vidic to injury, backtracked before Ballack headed Chelsea in front on 45 minutes.
Apart from the penalty, the first half was largely incident-free, save for Rankin's shot against the bar and Porter's one serious threat for Hartlepool.
Tuffey then made another great save to divert over a Foggia shot over the bar as the Italian sub continued to make an impact.
There were a handful of breakaway chances in the second half, the best in the 69th minute when Lantame Ouadja shot over the bar.
The Black Cats were almost made to pay as Jack Wilshere released Bendtner, only for Mignolet to claw the Dane's goal-bound shot over the bar.
Five minutes later the keeper again pulled off a great save, stretching to palm Teddy Sheringham's long-range shot onto the bar and away for a corner.
At the other end Didier Drogba shot onto the bar, but otherwise the hosts were pretty toothless and they now lie six points behind Manchester United.
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