Middlesbrough snow block - Alves double halts Ferguson's charge

Afonso Alves, Boro's new boy from Brazil, scored his first goal for his club to cancel out Cristiano Ronaldo's 37th goal of the season — the same total Middlesbrough have managed all season. Then £12million Alves grabbed a second to put Boro in front before Wayne Rooney notched his fourth in three games to earn the champions a point which extended their overnight lead over Chelsea to three points.

They then threw everything at Boro in a desperate bid to clinch the winner but encountered stubborn defending in a pulsating finale.

United, who face Arsenal at Old Trafford next weekend, and have still to travel to Chelsea, will regret missing many chances against their spirited opponents. Indeed, United have now won just six out of the last 14 games with Boro.

Southgate changed his system to cope with the visitors' devastating three-man attack and although United enjoyed early possession, Boro created the first chance when Alves was played in by the recalled Julio Arca, only to mis-hit his shot.

The man from Heerenveen, making only his second League start, looked set for a cold and lonely afternoon with only Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic's stand-in, John O'Shea, for company, but all that changed after Ronaldo scored his 27th goal in 27 starts after 10 minutes.

Arca's late tackle on Michael Carrick presented the Portugal winger with an opportunity to test Mark Schwarzer with a free-kick just outside the penalty area but his right-foot shot struck the Boro wall and floated harmlessly over.

Ryan Giggs took the resulting corner, narrowly missing Ronaldo's leap with George Boateng, who made the mistake of leaving the winger unattended as Carrick skipped past Jeremie Aliadiere and crossed back in for Ronaldo to turn the ball past Schwarzer.

Aliadiere was then restored to his rightful role as Alves's partner, and he should have pulled his side level but he miscued his shot.

Luke Young made a superb challenge to deny Rooney and Giggs blasted a shot into the sidenetting before Ronaldo burst past four men with a breathtaking run, only to also fire into the sidenetting.

In the 35th minute, Alves finally broke his English duck. The Brazil international had already warmed Edwin van der Sar's fingers with a well-struck free-kick before he pounced on Young's long throughball to expose the United defence.

Carrick was unable to stop his progress towards Van der Sar and the striker scored with a neat finish. It was the first goal United had conceded for more than eight hours.

And then in the final minute of the first half, United were denied an obvious penalty when Andrew Taylor dived full-length to block a Ronaldo drive and an outstretched hand kept out the shot.

Boro went ahead in the 56th minute after Brown's header ricocheted off Aliadiere's forehead and the ball ran into Alves's path. The South American then nonchalantly slipped the ball wide of Van der Sar to score.

With the United back four all over the place at that stage, he almost scored a hat-trick, only for Ferdinand to scramble clear.

Ferguson tinkered with his side in a bid to conjure the equaliser, withdrawing Carlos Tevez and O'Shea for Ji-sung Park and Owen Hargreaves, but in the 70th minute he was forced to replace Ferdinand, although his limp only seemed to kick in when his shirt number was shown by the fourth official. Rooney squandered a chance with a wild volley and Emanuel Pogatetz bravely blocked a Paul Scholes shot. But Park then evaded Taylor's aerial challenge and crossed to Rooney who nudged the ball over Schwarzer with a meaty deflection off David Wheater in the 74th minute.

United put Boro under the cosh for the final 15 minutes as frustrated Sir Alex Ferguson kicked every ball near the touchline and even clashed with opposite Southgate. Yet the closest they came to a winner was a diving header from the desperate Rooney which Schwarzer kept out.

Stewart Downing, meanwhile, hit the sidenetting and Tuncay Sanli was denied in injury-time.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Young, Wheater, Pogatetz, Taylor, O'Neil, Boateng, Arca, Downing, Alves, Aliadiere. Subs: Turnbull, Sanli, Cattermole, Johnson, Grounds

Man Utd: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Brown, Evra, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Tevez, Rooney. Subs: Kuszczak, Hargreaves, Anderson, Park, Pique

Referee: Mike Riley (Yorkshire).