Manchester United’s title hopes suffered a huge dent with Steve McClaren leaving his old stomping with his Middlesbrough leaving Old Trafford his three surprise points following a 3-2 victory.

‘Boro exploited United’s frailty at the back, with Juninho netting twice in four minutes. Despite chances from Scholes and Ryan Giggs for the Champions, Middlesbrough always looked the stronger side in the opening exchanges and took a deserved lead on 34 minutes.

Franck Queudrue sent a pile driver shot towards Tim Howard, which the American ‘keeper failed to hold and the ball bounced back into player. The shaky United defence were not on hand to clear the danger, and Juninho charged into the penalty area and headed home to send the 3,000 travelling supporters into delight.

Their delight turned to ecstasy four minutes later when Juninho netted his second to double ‘Boro’s advantage. Mendieta crossed into the danger area and the minuscule Juninho was on hand to head home at the near post. The United defence looked to blame once again, conceding such a soft goal after failing to pick up the Brazilian from the cross

United’s frustration was clear to see when Paul Scholes got involved in a scrap with Dorvia behind the back of referee Paul Derkin. Both players were lucky not to be cautioned as the incident was not seen by the man in charge.

United’s defence looked poor throughout, and Boro were threatening to put the game beyond the Red Devils with a third goal. However, with Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha up-front United already posed some threat, and they got themselves back into the game through the Dutch striker only seconds before the half-time whistle. Ruud’s 102^nd goal for United came from a Ryan Giggs cross, which was knocked down by Saha and finished by the prolific forward.

After a nightmare 45 minutes, Wes Brown was substituted at the break and a run in the reserve team looks a good option for the youngster who seems very low on morale after a run of disappointing displays. United continued to look vulnerable at the back, and ‘Boro posed a threat pushing forward but it was United who got the crucial next goal to pull level on the hour mark.

Mark Schwarzer, once linked with a move to United, pulled off a dramatic double save to deny Silvestre and Van Nistelrooy but he couldn’t stop Ryan Giggs driving home the equalising goal.

The majority of the attendance at Old Trafford would have been expecting a United winner after the Red Devils overturned the two-goal deficit, but Joseph Desire-Job stunned the United masses with the winning goal of the game ten minutes from time, with a well-taken finish from some distance out.

United had chances to equal the score in the dieing seconds, and substitute Diego Forlan should have scored from yards out, but his header was poor and went straight at the ‘Boro goalkeeper.

Take nothing away from Middlesbrough, who fought hard and deserved their victory. It was a poor performance from United, particularly the defence, who have now leaked 8 goals in 3 matches. With level numbers of matches played, United are now 5 points behind Arsenal at the top of the Premiership table, with the pressure really on Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

Full Time – Manchester United 2-3 Middlesbrough

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