FOOTBALL Live

Saturday May 2, 2009 Finished Riverside Stadium

0 - 2

Middlesbrough

Manchester United

  • Giggs 25’
  • Park 51’

486 comments | Write your comment

  1. United edge closer to title

    United edge closer to title

    Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points with a comfortable 2-0 win over Middlesbrough. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Middlesbrough
    • Manchester United
    • - Thanks for joining us... plenty more action to come today, so don't go anywhere!
    • 90'+2 There goes the final whitle and it's all over! United move six points clear at the top while Boro remain deep in relegation trouble!
    • 90' Alves threatens to get past Evans... but the United defender recovers in time to make a crucial sliding challenge.
    • 88' United are coasting to victory here... Boro have offered little up front and Foster has had just the one save to make.
    • 85' Rafael delivers a dangerous corner into the box which Jones pats down into the turf... not the most confident goalkeeping from the home keeper, but United can't capitalise...
    • 81' Nearly brilliant from United! Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney are all involved before O'Shea is played in on the United left! But the Irishman's shot is blocked and Boro can breathe again...
    • 78' United make a final change now as Rafael comes on to replace Evra...
    • 77' Oooh! Rooney turns his man inside and out before curling one just over the bar!
    • 76' Tuncay looks to feed Emnes in the United box... but Vidic steps across to close the door on the Boro sub...
    • 75' Park is brough off for Nani... job done.
    • 72' You can see why United fans love Tevez so much... he's full of energy and is so committed to the cause...
    • 70' O'Neill is replaced by Emnes as Boro make their final change...
    • 69' Here's a free-kick for Boro though... Downing to take it... Wheater climbs high to meet it... but it loops over the bar...
    • 67' United are in total control of this game now... another goal is looking a distinct possibility...
    • 64' Giggs centres for Tevez, who tess himself up for a shot on goal... well blocked by Huth!
    • 62' Evra's down for United... he looks like he's in pain following a challenge from Aliadiere... it's his left ankle...
    • 61' Tuncay bursts through, but his first touch is slightly too heavy and the ball runs out for a United goal kick.
    • 60' As things stand, United are going six points clear at the top, having played the same number of games as Liverpool... Boro meanwhile, will remain second bottom on 31 points.
    • 57' Tevez looks to play a one-two with Berbatov... it doesn't come off though as Bates shields the ball out for a goal kick.
    • 56' Huth goes into the book for a wild challenge on Tevez as the Argentine darts forward...
    • 55' And United make a change... on comes Tevez to a huge roar... Macheda departs....
    • 55' Boro make two changes... Alves on for King and Digard for McMahon.
    • 52' That's the goal United needed... they'll be able to relax now and this should be comfortable from now on...
    • 51' GOAL! PARK MAKES IT TWO! It's a great finish to a great move to put United right in the driving seat! Rooney is the final architect, playing a lovely reverse pass to the South Korean - which sees Wheater completely wrong-footed - who runs onto it and finds the bottom right corner!
    • 50' Giggs marauds through the Boro defence now... past one, past two... but he can't get a shot off and in the end his attempted backheel fails to find its target...
    • 49' And that prompts chants of 'Argentina' from the United fans, meaning they want to see Tevez on the pitch sooner rather than later.
    • 48' MACHEDA! Ooh! Rooney twists and turns past McMahon before pulling back for the Italian! But he can only fire wide of the upright!
    • 46' Back underway at the Riverside! No changes to tell you about at the break...
    • 45'+3 There goes the half-time whistle and United head in a Ryan Giggs goal to the good!
    • 45'+1 Jones races off his line, miles off his line, to reach the ball just a nano-second ahead of Scholes! Risky keeping, but it worked this time...
    • 45' SCHOLES! Again, he drags a shot wide of the mark from the edge of the box! Poor shooting from United this half...
    • 44' United break now with Park... he plays into Berbatov, who leaves the ball for Scholes... again he's allowed to strike at goal! But again, it's drags wide of the mark!
    • 43' It's pumped in, but the ball bounces all the way through to Foster, who has been troubled just once so far this half.
    • 42' Vidic is penalised for holding King and Boro have a chance to launch a ball into the United box just before half-time...
    • 40' Carlos Tevez and Nani are out on the touchline, warming up...
    • 39' O'Neill delivers a cross into the United area, but it hangs in the air a little too long and Foster comes out to claim.
    • 38' Macheda becomes the first recipient of a yellow card... for a sliding challenge on Wheater on the touchline.
    • 36' Downing again lets off a shot from distance... but again, Foester's not going to be beaten from that range, even though it's on target.
    • 35' Macheda shows off some neat footwork to get past two Boro challenges out on the United right... but he's soon stopped in his tracks and the move breaks down.
    • 34' 'Going down with Shearer' is the latest chant from the United fans... only time will tell...
    • 31' Boro come again... Foster flaps on the cross... it falls to Tuncay... great block by Vidic!
    • 30' Big handball shout in the United area as the ball appears to hit first Vidic and then Berbatov on the arm! But the ref waves play on!
    • 28' McMahon tangles with Rooney and the pair fall to the ground... Rooney looks like he's about to lose his temper, but Mark Halsey races over to diffuse the situation...
    • 26' 'Are you watching Merseyside' is the cry from the travelling fans... only if they have a satellite subscription!
    • 25' GOAL! GIGGS OPENS THE SCORING! Again, the Boro defence fail to close a United player down in shooting range and the PFA Player of the Year makes them pay with a crisp low drive into the bottom right hand corner! 1-0 to the champions!
    • 24' Rooney centres for Giggs! But what a challenge by Bates, who gets back in time to put in a challenge!
    • 23' And now Scholes fires wide! United still finding their range...
    • 21' First real chance of the game so far! Aliadiere is played in by King... he fires goalwards and Foster is forced into repelling the ball with his foot!
    • 20' Rooney is again allowed to run forward... but again the United ace's effort fails to hit its intended target... unless of course, its intended target was a fat bloke in Row C, in which case, he pulled it off superbly.
    • 19' Scholes flies into what can only be described as a typical Scholes challenge...
    • 18' Tuncay blazes over from 30 yards, having just about recovered from his earlier lung busting run forward!
    • 17' Giggs plays into the box for Macheda who tries a little Maradona turn on the ball... it doesn't come off and Boro break with Tuncay, who ends up winning a throw deep in the United half...
    • 16' Wheater piles into Macheda after a suspect handball by the Italian and United have a free-kick... the locals don't like that one at all...
    • 15' Poor touch from Vidic and Boro pick up possession again... but Downing's final ball is straight at Evans...
    • 14' It opens up in front of Rooney for a moment, and he lets fly! Over the bar!
    • 12' Downing swings it in... Wheater goes up with Vidic, but the United man wins the ball and heads clear... it's knocked back in soon enough... TUNCAY WITH AN OVER HEAD KICK! But it's wide and the flag is up for offside anyway!
    • 11' Great ball in by Bates! He curls one in and O'Shea is forced to head behind for a Boro corner!
    • 10' Vidic leaps into the air to powerfully head clear...
    • 9' Scholes is pulled up for a handball... and Boro have a free-kick, 40 yards out...
    • 9' Rooney tries to cut back inside from the left yet again but this time his intentions are well read by McMahon and Boro come away with the ball...
    • 9' Giggs clips a ball forward looking for Park... headed clear by Wheater...
    • 8' Strong challenge from O'Neill on Rooney... and the crowd love that!
    • 7' Downing fancies his chances from distance! But the England midfielder drags his spectacular shot wide of the mark!
    • 6' The crowd want a hand ball decision against Foster now! The United keeper comes out to collect a long ball through, but takes it inside his box, and the ref doesn't give anything...
    • 5' Rooney fires at goal now after having cut inside McMahon from the left wing! Over the bar, but worrying for Boro nevertheless...
    • 4' Nice from Boro again as Tuncay backheels to O'Neill... but the move breaks down soon enough and Berbatov can break... the Bulgarian loses the ball and Boro come again.
    • 3' Decent stuff from Boro! McMahon plays in for Aliadiere, who turns neatly and lets off a shot! It's wide of the mark, but good intentions from the hosts!
    • 2' Rooney gets an early touch on the United left... he cuts inside but nothing comes of it.
    • 1' Downing looks to win a free-kick off O'Shea... referee Mark Halsey waves play on...
    • 1' Bright sunshine in the north-east today... Boro are looking respledent in all red, while United are sporting white shirts and blues shorts today.
    • 1' Here we go at the Riverside! United can go six points clear with victory today - for 24 hours at least!
    • - Fergie's just explaining to the telly that his strong team selection is borne not only out of a desire to win the match, but also out of respect to other teams at the bottom who are battling relegation along with Boro.
    • - Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).
    • - Man Utd: Foster, O'Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Park, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov, Macheda - Subs: Kuszczak, Ronaldo, Anderson, Nani, Rafael Da Silva, Gibson, Tevez
    • - Here are the full line-ups... Middlesbrough: Jones, McMahon, Wheater, Huth, Hoyte, O'Neil, Sanli, Bates, Downing, King, Aliadiere - Subs: Turnbull, Digard, Emnes, Alves, Arca, Adam Johnson, Grounds
    • - There is no Andrew Taylor for Middlesbrough with Justin Hoyte covering at left-back. Marlon King partners Jeremie Aliadiere up front.
    • - An interesting team selection from Alex Ferguson. He brings in Ben Foster for Edwin van der Sar and Federico Macheda for Carlos Tevez, but otherwise it is a pretty strong line-up. Wayne Rooney starts but Cristiano Ronaldo is on the bench.
    • - Manchester United have a chance to go six points clear at the top of the Premier League if they win at the Riverside, but Middlesbrough are fighting for their lives at the opposite end. Premier League table

  • Team Stats

    Middlesbrough Stats Manchester United
    46% Possession 53%
    15 Shots 14
    2 Shots on target 2
    0 Saves 1
    3 Corners 3
    7 Fouls 7
    2 Offsides 3
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    26 Tackles 19
    278 Accurate passes 363
    60 Bad passes 63

  • 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
      22 Bradley Jones 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 1
      31 David Wheater 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 20 0 2
      26 Matthew Bates 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 32 2 2
      2 Justin Hoyte 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 29 13 2
      29 Anthony McMahon 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 18 0 4
      14 Robert Huth 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 26 1 5
      4 Gary O'Neil 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 17 0 3
      19 Stewart Downing 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 32 15 4
      16 Marlon King 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 18 5 0
      17 Tuncay Sanli 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 33 10 1
      10 Jeremie Aliadiere 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 15 3 0
      12 Afonso Alves 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 9 3 1
      40 Jonathon Grounds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      11 Marvin Emnes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
      28 Adam Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Didier Digard 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 22 7 1
      21 Ross Turnbull 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      20 Julio Arca 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      12 Ben Foster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 6 0
      15 Nemanja Vidic 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 29 2 3
      3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 23 11 3
      22 John O'Shea 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 33 4 2
      23 Jonny Evans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 1 1
      18 Paul Scholes 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 65 7 3
      11 Ryan Giggs 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 46 8 1
      13 Ji-sung Park 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 2 3
      41 Federico Macheda 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 13 3 0
      10 Wayne Rooney 0 5 0 1 2 2 1 40 6 0
      9 Dimitar Berbatov 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 47 9 1
      17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3 1
      32 Carlos Tevez 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 9 1 1
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Darron Gibson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Rafael Pereira da Silva 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 0

  • Summary

    • 81' Nearly brilliant from United! Berbatov, Tevez and Rooney are all involved before O'Shea is played in on the United left! But the Irishman's shot is blocked and Boro can breathe again...
    • 77' Oooh! Rooney turns his man inside and out before curling one just over the bar!
    • 51' GOAL! PARK MAKES IT TWO! It's a great finish to a great move to put United right in the driving seat! Rooney is the final architect, playing a lovely reverse pass to the South Korean - which sees Wheater completely wrong-footed - who runs onto it and finds the bottom right corner!
    • 48' MACHEDA! Ooh! Rooney twists and turns past McMahon before pulling back for the Italian! But he can only fire wide of the upright!
    • 45' SCHOLES! Again, he drags a shot wide of the mark from the edge of the box! Poor shooting from United this half...
    • 25' GOAL! GIGGS OPENS THE SCORING! Again, the Boro defence fail to close a United player down in shooting range and the PFA Player of the Year makes them pay with a crisp low drive into the bottom right hand corner! 1-0 to the champions!
    • 24' Rooney centres for Giggs! But what a challenge by Bates, who gets back in time to put in a challenge!
    • 21' First real chance of the game so far! Aliadiere is played in by King... he fires goalwards and Foster is forced into repelling the ball with his foot!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mark Halsey

  • Middlesbrough

    Manager: Gareth Southgate

    Captain: Stewart Downing

    Starting line-up

    • B. Jones
    • A. McMahon Substitution Out (55′)
    • R. Huth Yellow Card
    • D. Wheater
    • J. Hoyte
    • G. O'Neil Substitution Out (70′)
    • M. Bates
    • S. Tuncay
    • S. Downing
    • M. King Substitution Out (55′)
    • J. Aliadière

    Subs

    • J. Arca
    • R. Turnbull
    • D. Digard Substitution In55′
    • A. Johnson
    • A. Alves Substitution In55′
    • J. Grounds
    • M. Emnes Substitution In70′

    Injured

    • C. Riggott
    • E. Pogatetz

    Suspended

    None

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    Captain: Paul Scholes

    Starting line-up

    • B. Foster
    • J. O'Shea
    • N. Vidic
    • J. Evans
    • P. Evra Substitution Out (78′)
    • P. Scholes
    • R. Giggs Goal
    • W. Rooney
    • J. Park Goal Substitution Out (75′)
    • D. Berbatov
    • F. Macheda Yellow Card Substitution Out (55′)

    Subs

    • T. Kuszczak
    • C. Tevez Substitution In55′
    • C. Ronaldo
    • .. Nani Substitution In75′
    • O. Anderson
    • D. Gibson
    • R. Da Silva Substitution In78′

    Injured

    • R. Ferdinand
    • G. Neville
    • O. Hargreaves

    Suspended

    None

Comment 467 - 486 of 486

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. ManU will be on top again this comming season - should­ be very interesting with the promoted teams as well.

    From Free bet www.freebets.co.za, on Tue 2 Jun 3:24PM

  2. manu are the champions

    From liayoo2005, on Thu 7 May 7:04PM

  3. yes men u

    From antonyrichie158, on Tue 5 May 12:35PM

  4. Gibbo,

    Let us be honest here.
    We are down and why, no­­ real money pal.

    You come from Park End pal and you­­ should know better if you compete with the big boys­­ make sure you have armour.

    Remember the short walk­­ from Amershan to Overdale.
    I think you remember.
    Come­­ on Steve what will we all remember, Stokes.??

    Bring­­ back Robbo next season, his name is on the job, get us­­ back where we belong Steve.

    If Robbo says No, then­­ Keegan is next best for a fast return.

    Bring on the­­ kids, no choice for the young kids to shine as all the­­ proven are gone.

    Take care.

    From Jack, on Tue 5 May 8:17AM

  5. to comment 492

    if barca are top goalscorers this year­ how the hell have they not scored againt chelsea
    these­ are fact

    messi does not know how to use scissors(hair­ cut)
    henry doesnt know wat his old club is
    and eto o eh­ cant score agaisnt enlish clubs

    From aghabeigim, on Sun 3 May 11:17AM

  6. we are waiting for barcelonaaaaa

    From arash ghafouri, on Sun 3 May 10:26AM

  7. barca_nr_1 you are a demented @#$% who needs glasses!­ Cant you see that la liga is full of teams that arent­ worth @#$%? I would really like to see all spanish and­ catalan teams playing against all premiership teams­ cause only then you @#$% would be able to see that­ there is nothing special in scoring 90 goals against­ teams that dont know on what goal they're­ attacking. BTW: we saw how good Messi played against­ Chelsea--you would need binoculars to spot that little­ gey who is pretending to be some world class talent!­ Greetings to all english teams in Champions­ league!!!!!!!

    From kapiboy69, on Sun 3 May 10:15AM

  8. Bojinov, Petrov keep on doing that way. All Bulgarian­ fans are with you! Old Trafford is your Golgotha, but­ you can make it. We all believe in you!

    From sirdimoff, on Sun 3 May 9:38AM

  9. go manutd..
    we de chaamps!

    From vic_booba, on Sun 3 May 8:55AM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    For all you ManSHITster fagssssssssss, let's clear­ something out. Barca too won the double in 2006, and­ they ended up dominating their opponents in Champions­ League and La Liga, unlike ManSHITster, who hardly won­ CL against chelsea in penalties, and hardly won­ PremierSHIT on the last game. So don't go talking­ trash about Barca. And for you that say Barcas defence­ is bad, check the records, because Barca has conceded­ 12 goals in CL and scoring 29 goals, ManSHITster has­ conceded 5 goals, but only scored 15, and Chelsea, they­ conceded 12 goals, just as much as Barca, but only­ scored 19. So the facts show that Barca has conceded­ just as much as Chlsea, but has scored almost double of­ what chelsea and manSHITster has score, so quit talking­ about Barcas defence, because they have an attacking­ that makes up for everything. Henry Eto'o Messi,­ have scored 69 goals in La Liga, and 90 goals total in­ all competitions, More than manSHITster and chelsea as­ a­ team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!For all you ManSHITster­ fagssssssssss, let's clear something out. Barca too­ won the double in 2006, and they ended up dominating­ their opponents in Champions League and La Liga, unlike­ ManSHITster, who hardly won CL against chelsea in­ penalties, and hardly won PremierSHIT on the last game.­ So don't go talking trash about Barca. And for you­ that say Barcas defence is bad, check the records,­ because Barca has conceded 12 goals in CL and scoring­ 29 goals, ManSHITster has conceded 5 goals, but only­ scored 15, and Chelsea, they conceded 12 goals, just as­ much as Barca, but only scored 19. So the facts show­ that Barca has conceded just as much as Chlsea, but has­ scored almost double of what chelsea and manSHITster­ has score, so quit talking about Barcas defence,­ because they have an attacking that makes up for­ everythin

    From barca_nr_1, on Sun 3 May 3:58AM

  11. glory... glory... man u...

    From AHMAD S, on Sun 3 May 3:00AM

  12. ryan giggs is player of the year but it should go to­ the referees that score the winner for United

    From Sahladine L, on Sun 3 May 2:16AM

  13. comment 493. I think you're wrong.. Man U and Boro­ receive 3 minutes xtra time. Anyway, who in the halibut­ said to you that Man U made a deal with the ref.. You­ must be a Liverfool right? I understand, the Liverpools­ are coward. They know that Man U will win this season­ and yes, Man U will win and Rafa, you must shut your­ mouth like the way you shut your @#$%!

    From Angelos, on Sun 3 May 1:17AM

  14. Man Utd is the Best Team In Da­ World..
    Glory!!!Glory!!Man Utd......
    Sly7.....

    From slyvester, on Sun 3 May 12:39AM

  15. Kevin j, comment 509. You are a bitter and twisted­ stain. If all you have to say is nothing but hatred­ then it shows just how low you worthless scouse scum­ really are. You talk of death, barely 17 days after­ your grieffest re: Hillsborough 20 years. You are as­ deluded and spiteful as all the other United­ haters,instead of raising your game to United's­ level, you want them to come down to your miserable­ level,that is why liverpool is still second, not first.­ The league table doesn't lie. Who is the sad loser­ now, you @#$%. Anyway, must be way past your bedtime­ now,so you won't be reading this. Besides you need­ your sleep cos you've got school on Tuesday. Moron.

    From steve4akay, on Sat 2 May 11:51PM

  16. manu have won the cup

    From louise_bunting, on Sat 2 May 9:23PM

  17. liverpool will never get a job

    From PAUL, on Sat 2 May 9:13PM

  18. mark let park and giggs score

    From Kyle, on Sat 2 May 8:36PM

  19. United, champions as usual. The red devils go­ marchin' on!

    From johnnoble203, on Sat 2 May 8:02PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ji sung park should end his football career and focus­ on eating dogs.

    From sarah, on Sat 2 May 7:40PM
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