BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX © All written site content is copyright ComeOnBoro.com 2004-2007, unless otherwise stated, and is not to be used without prior permission.	MIDDLESBROUGH 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 2, Premier League, Saturday 2nd December Middlesbrough went into this game on the back of a hard-fought and creditable point earned at Aston Villa last week. They also were aiming to beat Manchester United for the second successive season after last campaign's Gaizka Mendieta inspired 4-1 heroics. Unsurprisingly Mendieta did not start this time around but Malcolm Christie did, having recovered from the groin injury that had plagued him all week. The only thing he was breaking today was the record for the number of successive appearances he had made in his Boro career. That record now stands at two. Once more Christie partnered Yakubu in attack. Mark Viduka was not on the bench, contrary to popular rumour, leaving Boro's only other strike option Massimo Maccarone. Gareth Southgate stuck with the 3-5-2 system that worked so well at Villa Park, adopting a wing back system with Xavier on the right and Taylor on the left. Woodgate, Huth and Pogatetz formed the heart of the Boro defence. Xavier made his Riverside return after his year-long suspension this afternoon. In midfield, Julio Arca was dropped in favour of Lee Cattermole. Cattermole's role was to support George Boateng in the centre of the park. Schwarzer, Huth, Woodgate (Morrison 46), Pogatetz, Xavier (Parnaby 87), Cattermole, Boateng, Downing, Taylor, Yakubu, Christie (Maccarone 71), Jones, Arca THE FIRST HALF Boro started brightly, forcing a corner by pressurising Ryan Giggs into some careless play after a mere forty seconds. Downing's ball was headed away comfortably by Luis Saha for a less than threatening throw-in. Another minute, another corner conceded as Manchester United found it difficult to find their feet. The left-footed delivery ended in a George Boateng handball however, handing the advantage to the League leaders. Considering United were top of the League and had a 4-1 reverse to avenge, they had started very tepidly. This was no time for complacency however, a good ball from Gabriel Heinze being cleared expertly by Robert Huth, demonstrating the threat that the Manchester outfit had. Cattermole was spreading himself about, lunging into crunching tackles on first Wayne Rooney and then Ryan Giggs in the centre of the park. He was however on the receiving end of a tackle from Paul Scholes that could be described as reckless at best. The Manchester United player saw yellow for his troubles. Like Cattermole, Malcolm Christie was also up for the game. With confidence oozing from scoring last week, Christie launched an overhead kick towards goal from eighteen yards out. His effort went wide. On eleven Boro survived a scare with Manchester United's first corner of the game. Schwarzer was indecisive, allowing Saha to head towards goal. Only Huth, who was standing on the line, saved the Australian's blushes, preventing the opposition from scoring the opening goal of the game. Two minutes later and Ronaldo cut in from twenty-five yards out and launched a fierce shot at the Boro goal. Schwarzer could only parry the ball into the path of Ryan Giggs. He could only watch in amusement as Giggs managed to skew his header hopelessly wide. It was a chance however and a warning to Boro that United were getting closer and closer to scoring. On sixteen another ball was whipped into the Boro box and yet another corner was conceded. Wayne Rooney had been close to connecting to the initial cross from around six yards out but the corner turned out to be less dangerous, with the Boro comfortably clearing. Boro's discomfort grew in the eighteenth minute as Saha beat a couple of red shirts and played a perfectly weighted ball to Cristiano Ronaldo. Schwarzer went to try and rescue the situation but only succeeded in taking out the Portuguese midfielder, who perhaps went down a little too easily. The referee blew for the second penalty Schwarzer had conceded in two games. He had to come for the ball but perhaps he hadn't learnt his lesson from last week. Saha took the spot-kick, burying the ball into the bottom left hand corner. Schwarzer nearly got to it but in the end it was no coconut. Middlesbrough 0 Manchester United 1 (Saha (pen), 18) Boro struck back however, striking the post in the process. Downing whipped a pacy ball into the box and Xavier out-jumped the United defence, connecting with the ball from six yards out. Van der Sar was rooted to the line and was relieved to see the ball cannon off the inside of the left hand post. It deflected to Jonathan Woodgate who, in his surprise, only managed to blast the ball over the bar from eight yards out. United were pressurising the home side, pulling the Boro defence out of position in the process. It was a bit like a training exercise for the home side at this point, playing keep-ball in front of the Boro backline. On thirty, Malcolm Christie went down in the box but it was more of a trip than a penalty attempt. Despite this he got booked for his troubles, much to the howls of derision from the home faithful. On thirty-three Wayne Rooney missed another glorious chance after Ronaldo opened up the Boro defence once again. A good cross in and Rooney blasted wide from twelve yards out. It was all too easy for United who were cutting through a midfield that even Newcastle United had managed to over-run a couple of weeks back. It was like a coconut shy at this stage, with the Boro defence being the coconuts (Xavier's hair excepted). United were creating chances at will and Middlesbrough were lucky to be just 1-0 down at this stage. Ronaldo was again doing his most famous party-piece - that of the deserter being shot at dawn - as he was going down more often than a prostitute with a crack addiction. The resulting free-kick however produced a wonderful save from Schwarzer, who parried the ball over the bar after it had clipped Lee Cattermole. Lee Cattermole got a booking for no real reason although it may have had something to do with a dubious foul on Ronaldo. England's villain was once more doing his best to wind up the opposition fans and players and it was starting to work. What was worse was that this was the Boro midfielder's fifth caution of the season, thus forcing him into an automatic suspension. Patience was again the key for United, lulling the Boro into a false sense of security before providing that killer final pass. It almost came to Rooney but an alert Huth saved Boro's blushes from six yards out. Yakubu broke from this but because of Boro being on the back foot he had no support. He went for the jugular, checked back and played it wide-left to Downing but the England international's ball was poor and the potency of the attack had evaporated. And this was the last play of a first half that United had controlled. The Boro had never really got a foot in this game and as United stroked the ball around the desperate home players, Gareth Southgate was left wondering how he was going to stop the United onslaught. THE SECOND HALF Boro suffered a blow going into the second half, with the retirement of Jonathan Woodgate through illness. Boro switched to a flat back four, with four instead of three in midfield in the hope of preventing United from running so easily through it. Substitute James Morrison was charged with playing on the left of this midfield. Yet this didn't help. In the forty-sixth minute Ronaldo's pace murdered the Boro, running a full sixty yards down the inside right position. He played the ball into Rooney who uncharacteristically fluffed his shot in front of goal. The resulting corner was defended routinely by Pogatetz. United were quicker to every ball, looking a far fitter and composed unit than the rabble that represented the Boro. Even the defence didn't look too assured, with the opposition tearing through them at will. However on fifty Boro started to play, with Downing and Morrison leading the way. A free-kick was won and Boro packed the United penalty area. Robert Huth stood over it from forty yards out and pummelled it towards goal. It hit the United wall and broke to Yakubu in the box. He tried to cut inside and shoot towards the top left hand corner. In the end he fluffed it. Just as Boro started to play, a Cattermole slip allowed Ronaldo in and he blasted a shot from twenty yards out. At full stretch, Schwarzer did well to tip the ball around the post, conceding a corner. Yakubu broke from this but Rooney dispossessed him and launched a tame shot towards the Boro goal. This allowed Boro to break as Schwarzer set Yakubu in motion. A shimmy, a cross and a poor shot from Morrison saw another Manchester United free kick. The Boro were starting to play now, having a go at United and starting to stretch them. This is what had been lacking in the first half. United were giving as good as they got however although they were started to become rattled. Morrison and Cattermole played luscious one-twos, resulting in Morrison crossing the ball into the Manchester United penalty area. Van der Sar parried it, tipping it away from Yakubu's path. He could have scored a tap-in had the goalkeeper not been alert. A clattering Cattermole challenge on Paul Scholes now set the tempo in a move that ended in a free-kick for the Boro. Downing whipped the ball in but the offside flag was raised, nullifying the move. However United were rattled, with Nemanja Vidic picking up a needless yellow card for a challenge on Christie. On sixty-one United were adding towards their forthcoming DVD "Misses of the Season" with Giggs bearing down on Schwarzer, possibly inviting the Australian into conceding another penalty. However instead of dragging it back, Giggs just blasted it, and the opportunity went begging. On sixty-three Huth saved Boro's blushes again with some world-class defending, again quieting Wayne Rooney. In fact the England international was thwarted once again by the German, who read his attempt to chest the ball beyond him with a firm tackle. On sixty-five Yakubu played the ball wide and passed the ball to Downing, who dinked the ball beyond the onrushing defender. The England fringe player drilled a powerful ball into the box that flummoxed the visitors. Heinze had difficulty clearing it and Morrison blasted the ball into the back of the net, bringing the Boro level. His introduction to the play turned out to be inspired from Gareth Southgate. Middlesbrough 1 (Morrison, 65) Manchester United 1 But in the euphoria of equalising, the Boro went to sleep. Rooney played it wide to Giggs who in turn belted the ball into the Boro box. No one was marking Darren Fletcher and he restored United's lead with a powerful header. United had conceded the lead for a sum total of 123 seconds. Middlesbrough 1 Manchester United 2 (Fletcher, 67) Boro were creating opportunities now as Southgate played another one of his trump cards - substituting Malcolm Christie for Massimo Maccarone. This introduction of the Italian for the final twenty minutes of a game was becoming all too common an occurrence however and you must wonder how effective it was going to be when the opposition probably half-expected it. On seventy-four United substituted Darren Fletcher for John O'Shea. Meanwhile the away side had a corner which the Boro managed to clear, despite a stumble. The game started to go flat from here, with United controlling the pace. The Boro had looked better since Morrison's introduction but the feeling at this stage was that the day was winding down to a tepid conclusion. On eighty-three Huth won a free-kick from twenty yards out at a time when Southgate urged Huth should go up and form part of a 3-4-4 formation. Downing's attempt went harmlessly wide. Crisitano Ronaldo was booed as he left the field. Wes Brown replaced him. A minute later Abel Xavier was replaced by Stewart Parnaby. The Boro Academy youngster had three minutes to turn on that style. On eighty-eight a Yakubu break petered out to nothing, notable only because it was the first chance the Boro had in twenty minutes. As the game went into stoppage time, Downing was given a chance to show his class with another free-kick. The ball was comfortably cleared. The last roll of the dice saw Boro win a corner kick. It was all hands to the pump as Schwarzer lumbered up. Van der Sar fisted it and Huth headed the ball towards goal. It was saved and it was another Boro corner. United cleared it, Maccarone launched another shot and it hit Paul Scholes. A minute later and with seconds running out, Morrison forced a final save from Van der Sar but it was not to be - United fans cheered as the final whistle blew. It was a spirited performance, particularly in the second half but the fact remains that we did not have enough shots at go. Morrison and Downing were threatening but we never did enough to win. The midfield was once more over-run and we only had one shot on target in opening play. It simply is not good enough. January is the time to buy. SEND THIS TO A FRIEND BACK TO MANCHESTER UNITED MATCH PROGRAMME INDEX
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