FOOTBALL Live

Sunday April 6, 2008 Finished Riverside Stadium

Logo 2 - Manchester United 2

Middlesbrough

  • Alves 35’, 56’

Manchester United

  • Ronaldo 10’
  • Rooney 74’
  1. United held by plucky Boro

    United held by plucky Boro

    Afonso Alves got his first goals in English football when Middlesbrough held Premier League leaders Manchester United to a 2-2 draw at the Riverside. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Middlesbrough
    • Manchester United
    • 90+4 And that is the final whistle, 2-2 and Boro unlucky not to win it! United stay top but Chelsea and Arsenal are back in with a chance!
    • 90+3 United almost capitulate as Tuncay gets through, a brilliant turn, he spins past Brown and Pique, this is wonderful and he can beat Van der Sar but a brilliant save denies the Turk! That would have been some goal!
    • 90+3 Boro defending desperately now with United trying to force the issue deep in injury time... Ronaldo wide to Evra who falls over... the ball spins out for a goal kick and surely that's the end...
    • 90+1 Evra now in the Boro box, sends a cross into the mixer but Schwarzer gets there comfortably.
    • 90' United camped on the edge of the Boro box, some lovely one-twos and flicks but Scholes can't get the shot away and Boro clear... United over-cooking it somewhat.
    • 89' Ronaldo on the edge of the area, trying to get teh shot away but he can't, back to Hargreaves who cleverly clips it wide left to Rooney who's free and takes a touch, cutting back and and has a shot but scuffs it well wide!
    • 88' United coming forward in numbers, great play by Hargreaves on the right who crosses in FOR ROONEY WITH THE DIVING HEADER BUT BLOCKED BY SCHWARZER AND IT DROPS TO GIGGS but he can't lay it off to Scholes! Boro clear.
    • 86' Pogetetz heads Giggs's free-kick clear but Tuncay can't get the ball away, he's charged down by Rooney but the England man over-runs the ball.
    • 85' Ronaldo on the left with a superb turn to sprint away from O'Neil, who cynically hacks him down just outside the box, yellow card and a free kick.
    • 82' Giggs on the left, the cross is headed clear but Scholes can volley from the edge of the box, just over though.
    • 80' 50-50 possession stats with ten minutes left - an evenly-matched contest if there ever was one.
    • 79' Rooney on a run through the middle, beats one man then another, he's pushed a bit wide right though and tries to cut back inside and feed it to Ronaldo, but Boro clear.
    • 77' BORO SUB: Alves comes off for Tuncay.
    • 76' Simple back-pass to Van der Sar who comes out of his area AND HE SLIPS AND COULD LET ALVES IN WITH AN OPEN GOAL BUT HE GETS HIS LEG ACROSS TO KNOCK THE BALL AWAY! Very dodgy from Van der Sar today.
    • 75' Corner to United, Giggs from the left AND PARK RISES TO BEAT SCHWARZER but he puts it wide!
    • 74' United come forward, Park on the right, takes a neat touch and simply drives it across goal AND ROONEY WITH THE FINISH FOR 2-2! United breathe a huge sigh if relief, an inspired substitution from Sir Alex Ferguson.
    • 72' Corner United... Giggs sends it into the mixer, comes off a United head and drops to ROONEY WITH THE VOLLEY FROM THE EDGE OF THE AREA BUT JUST WIDE!
    • 71' Afonso Alves is down in some pain after a collision with Carrick... Young is also down after a foul by Ronaldo, who is also hurt. Bodies everywhere.
    • 70' Worrying scenes for United as Ferdinand limps off with a knee injury, Pique on in his place. Oh dear, United are having a bit of a nightmare.
    • 69' This is really poor from Van der Sar, spilling a routine catch of a high ball.
    • 68' Boateng is booked...
    • 67' Downing with the ball, great run down the left, beats one man, then another and he holds off Ferdinand to hammer in a superb shot that Van der Sar tips away at the near post! Inexplicably the ref doesn't give a corner though.
    • 67' MAN UNITED SUB: Hargreaves on for O'Shea.
    • 63' MAN UNITED SUB: An odd one. United are chasing the game so they take off striker Tevez for midfielder Park. Well, it is snowing I suppose?!
    • 62' United pushing Boro now as Ronaldo tries to get a shot in, falls to Scholes who hammers one in but it's blocked and over for a corner.
    • 61' O'Neil back defending robs Ronaldo in his own box and plays it clear... United trying to put some sustained pressure on Boro, who break down the left, Downing can't beat O'Shea though.
    • 60' Boro keep the ball moving quickly, out wide and the cross is sent into ALIADIERE UNMARKED MUST SCORE BUT HE HEADS IT ACROSS GOAL INSTEAD AND ALVES CAN FINISH BUT KNEED AWAY ACROBATICALLY BY FERDINAND! Unite quite literally all over the place.
    • 59' A poor back pass plays VDS into trouble, he has to rush out of his area to put it out for a throw.
    • 58' Rooney is in on the left and Young slides in... he wants a corner but goal kick is given.
    • 56 Long punt from Schwarzer knocked down by Boateng and Aliadiere beats Brown to flick it on to ALVES WHO'S IN BEHIND FERDINAND AND CLIPS THE BALL PAST VAN DER SAR'S LEFT FOR 2-1! What a turnaround! Boro leading, and Alves - much-criticised for failing to score since joining from Heerenveen - gets his second.
    • 55' Rooney slides in to try and beat Schwarzer to the ball and gets a yellow.
    • 54' O'Neill is down after a clash with Evra but he gingerly gets to his feet.
    • 52' United in on the left, Rooney into the area, cuts it back for Ronaldo but Boro are able to block and clear.
    • 51' Alves with a great touch to take a long ball down in the United box, but his second touch is poor as the ball gets stuck between his feet, allowing Ferdinand to clear.
    • 50' Tevez on the left, cuts inside and tries to thread it through to Ronaldo but just too far ahead of him.
    • 48' Young somewhat harshly booked after a 50-50 sees Patrice Evra come off worse.
    • 47' United counter after that scare, Tevez on the right and he hammers a shot on goal but blocked for a corner.
    • 46' Free kick to Boro... launched upfield, flicked on by Wheater and Alves with a header back across goal and the United defenders and sliding all over the place AND POGATETZ FLIES IN WITH THE FINISH BUT BLOCKED AND UNITED CLEAR!
    • 46' Second half underway.
    • 45+1 Half-time, Boro holding United 1-1.
    • 45' One minute of added-time to be played.
    • 44' United on the counter, Giggs to Rooney on the right, they have bodies forward but he opts for Carrick on the edge of the area who tumbles over... still with United, Tevez on the left, he finds Ronaldo who shoots and it's blocked by Taylor and spins wide for Carrick to win a corner. Ronaldo is adamant that was a penalty, claiming it hit the hand of Taylor - and he has a point!
    • 41' Foul by Wheater on Ferdinand during that corner, United free kick to ease the pressure. Boro dominating at the moment!
    • 40' Evra heads clear, Boatend has it though and puts it in the area, ahead of Alves but he works hard to close it down, Evra can clear though but Boateng blocks and comes away with the ball and crosses it and UNITED TOTALLY MISS THE BALL AND DOWNING AT THE FAR POST TAKES IT DOWN TO FINISH BUT A GREAT SAVE BY VAN DER SAR!
    • 39' The hosts still putting United under pressure, they look shaky at the moment, but a quick break from the visitors could change everything... Rooney can't get the shot in though, Boro clear.
    • 38' Scholes gives away a free kick around 30 yards out... sent into the box and Van der Sar flies across to claw the ball away, he then stops even though it hasn't gone out for a corner, Boro back on the ball...
    • 35' Aliadiere finds Alves on the edge of the box, the United defence are all over the place and they give him a clear run AND ALVES DRIVES IT INTO THE BOTTOM RIGHT FOR HIS FIRST MIDDLESBROUGH GOAL!! 1-1! He's delighted, a weight off his considerable shoulders. Poor defending from United though - had to happen sometime.
    • 33' Alves will take this... he drives it through the wall but straight at Van der Sar, who rather poorly parries the ball and it bounces up to POGATETZ WITH THE HEADER but Van der Sar just gets back to tip it away under pressure from Taylor, who fouls him. Not the greatest piece of keeping from the normally reliable Dutchman.
    • 32' Ferdinand fouls Alves about five yards from the D... he's protesting that he got the ball but clearly didn'nt.
    • 31' Boro come forward in what is becoming an open match, Alves with the header but he can't direct it on goal, now O'Neill with the follow-up but his shot is blocked.
    • 30' Brilliant reverse through ball by Ronaldo to free Rooney who is clean through but the flag is up! Shocking decision, Wheater played him about a yard onside.
    • 29' Ronaldo on the left, sprints past O'Neill, then Young, and he's in behind Wheater and this could be a great goal but he shanks the shot and it flies wildly wide.
    • 28' United on the counter, Tevez through the middle, wide to Rooney, into Giggs who hands it over to Ronaldo who pulls wide left and goes down under a tackle but just a throw.
    • 25' Schwarzer launches a clearance long, Arca now over the top looking for O'Neill on the right but too long and back with Van der Sar.
    • 23' Boro break at pace, the ball is clipped through to Aliadiere who's in and must score but he drags the finish wide!
    • 22' Evra comes forward now but, falling as he tries the cross, can only play the ball straight at Schwarzer.
    • 20' Unitd swarm forward again, inside to Carrick who plays a superb little through ball to Rooney who is in but the shot is blocked by Young for a corner.
    • 19' United break through Rooney and Ronaldo, one-two and Roo plays it back to Ron who plays an impudent backheeled flick over to Giggs on the left who shoots but only into the side-netting! That touch from Ronaldo was quite something.
    • 18' Downing on the left, almost gets a decent low cross in but O'Shea clears, only back to Downing mind who touches it back to Taylor with the cross that Alves meets with his head but it comes off the side and goes well wide.
    • 17' Carrick to Giggs who plays it long looking for Rooney but just a little too much on it and the ball is back with Schwarzer.
    • 16' Scholes with a delightful touch to dispossess Downing after the England winger almost raced clear on the left.
    • 14' Boro win a corner on the right after Young gets free on the overlap... sent far post looking for Wheater and Pogatetz gets the header in but well over.
    • 12' Another corner to United on the left this time but cleared well by Boro...
    • 10' Giggs to swing the corner in from the right... decent delivery to the far post, Pogatetz can't clear and Carrick has it on the left, great touch to cut inside and he drills the ball low across goal FOR RONALDO TO FIRE INTO THE BACK OF THE NET FOR 1-0! His 27th league goal of the season!
    • 9' Free-kick to United about 30 yards out, Ronaldo surely isn't going to shoot from here? He is you know, blocked for a corner...
    • 8' Terrible corner though, Downing sends it low and bobbling for Scholes to clear from the edge of the box.
    • 7' Ferdinand slides in to tackle O'Neill on the Boro right, just outside the box so he had to time that perfectly, corner Boro....
    • 5' Alves leads a Boro break, down the right he cuts inside and - falling as he does it - tries a shot which skews well wide.
    • 3' Tevez on the ball in midfield, goes back to go forward, now Brown pings it to Rooney with the chest-down on the edge of the box, Giggs played in but he can't get the centre across and Wheater clears.
    • 2' Free kick to United about 35 yards out... blocked by the wall and Boro clear.
    • 1' First half underway!
    • - Slight delay here at the Riverside, it's snowing up north and down south today, following a very warm start to the weekend which sadly tailed off.
    • - Ryan Giggs makes his 750th appearance for United, just nine games shy of Sir Bobby Charlton's record.
    • - MANCHESTER UNITED TEAM NEWS: A first-choice starting XI for the Reds with Carlos Tevez joining Wayne Rooney up top of an orthodox 4-4-2. Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo work the flanks with Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick in central midfield, Owen Hargreaves and Anderson on the bench. John O'Shea continues at right back with Wes Brown moving inside to stand in for the injured Nemanja Vidic.
    • - MIDDLESBROUGH TEAM NEWS: Afonso Alves starts for Boro, with Tuncay - linked with a return to Turkey in recent weeks - on the bench. Julio Arca starts in midfield alongside George Boateng.
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of champions and leaders Manchester United's trip to Middlesbrough, starting at 13:30 GMT!

  • Team Stats

    Middlesbrough Stats Manchester United
    34% Possession 66%
    14 Shots 16
    7 Shots on target 3
    1 Saves 4
    4 Corners 10
    11 Fouls 21
    4 Offsides 1
    3 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    21 Tackles 32
    172 Accurate passes 387
    49 Bad passes 65

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Middlesbrough
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Mark Schwarzer 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 5 0
      31 David Wheater 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 15 2 0
      33 Andrew Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 8 2
      2 Luke Young 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 19 0 4
      6 Emanuel Pogatetz 0 2 0 1 5 0 0 14 6 1
      7 George Boateng 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 26 3 3
      3 Julio Arca 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 24 5 5
      4 Gary O'Neil 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 18 4 3
      19 Stewart Downing 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 15 9 1
      11 Jeremie Aliadiere 0 2 0 3 1 2 2 15 4 0
      12 Afonso Alves 2 6 4 2 1 2 0 7 2 1
      27 Lee Cattermole 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Ross Turnbull 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Tuncay Sanli 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0
      40 Jonathon Grounds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Adam Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 6 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 28 1 1
      3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 33 17 5
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 24 3 3
      6 Wes Brown 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 25 1 2
      18 Paul Scholes 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 65 6 4
      16 Michael Carrick 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 59 2 5
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 1 4 1 0 5 0 0 34 11 1
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 24 9 3
      32 Carlos Tevez 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 24 2 3
      10 Wayne Rooney 1 8 2 3 1 1 0 30 5 2
      13 Ji-sung Park 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 10 0 1
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      4 Owen Hargreaves 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 2
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Gerard Pique 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 2 0

  • Summary

    • 90+3 United almost capitulate as Tuncay gets through, a brilliant turn, he spins past Brown and Pique, this is wonderful and he can beat Van der Sar but a brilliant save denies the Turk! That would have been some goal!
    • 89' Ronaldo on the edge of the area, trying to get teh shot away but he can't, back to Hargreaves who cleverly clips it wide left to Rooney who's free and takes a touch, cutting back and and has a shot but scuffs it well wide!
    • 88' United coming forward in numbers, great play by Hargreaves on the right who crosses in FOR ROONEY WITH THE DIVING HEADER BUT BLOCKED BY SCHWARZER AND IT DROPS TO GIGGS but he can't lay it off to Scholes! Boro clear.
    • 76' Simple back-pass to Van der Sar who comes out of his area AND HE SLIPS AND COULD LET ALVES IN WITH AN OPEN GOAL BUT HE GETS HIS LEG ACROSS TO KNOCK THE BALL AWAY! Very dodgy from Van der Sar today.
    • 75' Corner to United, Giggs from the left AND PARK RISES TO BEAT SCHWARZER but he puts it wide!
    • 74' United come forward, Park on the right, takes a neat touch and simply drives it across goal AND ROONEY WITH THE FINISH FOR 2-2! United breathe a huge sigh if relief, an inspired substitution from Sir Alex Ferguson.
    • 72' Corner United... Giggs sends it into the mixer, comes off a United head and drops to ROONEY WITH THE VOLLEY FROM THE EDGE OF THE AREA BUT JUST WIDE!
    • 67' Downing with the ball, great run down the left, beats one man, then another and he holds off Ferdinand to hammer in a superb shot that Van der Sar tips away at the near post! Inexplicably the ref doesn't give a corner though.
    • 62' United pushing Boro now as Ronaldo tries to get a shot in, falls to Scholes who hammers one in but it's blocked and over for a corner.
    • 60' Boro keep the ball moving quickly, out wide and the cross is sent into ALIADIERE UNMARKED MUST SCORE BUT HE HEADS IT ACROSS GOAL INSTEAD AND ALVES CAN FINISH BUT KNEED AWAY ACROBATICALLY BY FERDINAND! Unite quite literally all over the place.
    • 56 Long punt from Schwarzer knocked down by Boateng and Aliadiere beats Brown to flick it on to ALVES WHO'S IN BEHIND FERDINAND AND CLIPS THE BALL PAST VAN DER SAR'S LEFT FOR 2-1! What a turnaround! Boro leading, and Alves - much-criticised for failing to score since joining from Heerenveen - gets his second.
    • 46' Free kick to Boro... launched upfield, flicked on by Wheater and Alves with a header back across goal and the United defenders and sliding all over the place AND POGATETZ FLIES IN WITH THE FINISH BUT BLOCKED AND UNITED CLEAR!
    • 44' United on the counter, Giggs to Rooney on the right, they have bodies forward but he opts for Carrick on the edge of the area who tumbles over... still with United, Tevez on the left, he finds Ronaldo who shoots and it's blocked by Taylor and spins wide for Carrick to win a corner. Ronaldo is adamant that was a penalty, claiming it hit the hand of Taylor - and he has a point!
    • 40' Evra heads clear, Boatend has it though and puts it in the area, ahead of Alves but he works hard to close it down, Evra can clear though but Boateng blocks and comes away with the ball and crosses it and UNITED TOTALLY MISS THE BALL AND DOWNING AT THE FAR POST TAKES IT DOWN TO FINISH BUT A GREAT SAVE BY VAN DER SAR!
    • 35' Aliadiere finds Alves on the edge of the box, the United defence are all over the place and they give him a clear run AND ALVES DRIVES IT INTO THE BOTTOM RIGHT FOR HIS FIRST MIDDLESBROUGH GOAL!! 1-1! He's delighted, a weight off his considerable shoulders. Poor defending from United though - had to happen sometime.
    • 33' Alves will take this... he drives it through the wall but straight at Van der Sar, who rather poorly parries the ball and it bounces up to POGATETZ WITH THE HEADER but Van der Sar just gets back to tip it away under pressure from Taylor, who fouls him. Not the greatest piece of keeping from the normally reliable Dutchman.
    • 29' Ronaldo on the left, sprints past O'Neill, then Young, and he's in behind Wheater and this could be a great goal but he shanks the shot and it flies wildly wide.
    • 23' Boro break at pace, the ball is clipped through to Aliadiere who's in and must score but he drags the finish wide!
    • 20' Unitd swarm forward again, inside to Carrick who plays a superb little through ball to Rooney who is in but the shot is blocked by Young for a corner.
    • 19' United break through Rooney and Ronaldo, one-two and Roo plays it back to Ron who plays an impudent backheeled flick over to Giggs on the left who shoots but only into the side-netting! That touch from Ronaldo was quite something.
    • 10' Giggs to swing the corner in from the right... decent delivery to the far post, Pogatetz can't clear and Carrick has it on the left, great touch to cut inside and he drills the ball low across goal FOR RONALDO TO FIRE INTO THE BACK OF THE NET FOR 1-0! His 27th league goal of the season!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mike Riley

  • Middlesbrough

    Manager: Gareth Southgate

    Captain: George Boateng

    On the Field

    • Schwarzer
    • Young Yellow Card
    • Wheater
    • Pogatetz
    • Taylor
    • O'Neil Yellow Card
    • Arca
    • Boateng Yellow Card
    • Downing
    • Aliadière Substitution Out (90′)
    • Alves Goals×2 Substitution Out (77′)

    Subs

    • Tuncay Substitution In (77′)
    • Turnbull
    • Johnson Substitution In (90′)
    • Cattermole
    • Grounds

    Injured

    • Mido

    Suspended

    • Rochemback

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    Captain: Rio Ferdinand

    On the Field

    • van der Sar
    • O'Shea Substitution Out (67′)
    • Ferdinand Substitution Out (70′)
    • Brown
    • Evra
    • Ronaldo Goal
    • Scholes
    • Carrick
    • Giggs
    • Tevez Substitution Out (63′)
    • Rooney Goal Yellow Card

    Subs

    • Hargreaves Substitution In (67′)
    • Kuszczak
    • Park Substitution In (63′)
    • Pique Substitution In (70′)
    • Anderson

    Injured

    • Saha
    • Fletcher
    • Vidic
    • Nani

    Suspended

    None