Manchester United 4 Middlesbrough 1
Manchester United 4 (Nani 3, Rooney 33, Tevez 55, 85) Middlesbrough 1 (Aliadiere 6)
4th game with 4 goals as Tevez and Rooney gave a lesson in striking duo and to combine to deadly effect.
Middlesbrough were never truely in this game despite equalising early on and then having another chance whilst it was still 1-1 but a combination of careless defending and brilliance from Rooney tore them apart.
However, it was Nani, coming into the team for Ryan Giggs, that started the route with the sort of goal that wins Goal of the Month. That’s his second screamer and this one was better that the one against Spurs. The celebration afterwards was something else as well. I’m not sure that Fergie was right about banning it though. Rather than hurting himself, he could take the eye out of a passing player with one of his flying studs.
Three minutes later, Aliadiere equalised for Boro, a long range header that crept in off the post. It was the first League goal let in at Old Trafford this season, but it didn’t stop United for long. Wayne Rooney is hitting top form again and stole the ball off a dallying defender and then powered the ball into the net.
Better was to come in the 2nd half. Tevez and Rooney combined to open Boro right up as Rooney produced a fantastic back heel that sent the defenders the wrong way and left Tevez with a straightforward finish to make it 3-1. Tevez added a second late on as his shot deflected and looped over Schwarzer into the net.
We’ve now found out that United will be without Paul Scholes for 3 months, and this is a major blow for the team, but United beat Boro with 2 new midfield players, Hargreaves and Anderson. With Carrick set to return from injury soon and O’Shea and Fletcher as able backups, United look far better to cope with the loss of Scholes than they did 2 years ago when we were left with a midfield combo of Giggs and O’Shea.
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