United ride high as defence earn Ferguson praise

Middlesbrough 0 Manchester United 1

Forget all the guff about Tottenham Hotspur doing well in years which end in a one - which at this rate will see them promoted from the Nationwide League in 2011 - Sir Alex Ferguson flourishes in years which finish in a three.

In 1983, he won his first European trophy, leading Aberdeen to victory over Real Madrid in the Cup-Winners' Cup. Ten years later, he seized his first Premiership trophy with Manchester United, and when he uncorks a bottle of Nuits St Georges to celebrate his 62nd birthday on New Year's Eve, Ferguson can reflect that 2003 has been a very satisfactory year.

On Boxing Day last season, United came to Middlesbrough and suffered a 3-1 defeat which left them third in the Premiership, seven points adrift of Arsenal and with their manager's authority and judgement under severe scrutiny.

It turned out to be their last defeat of the season and in the calendar year which has followed Manchester United have lost three League games. Now, after a more comfortable victory than Ferguson might have expected against a club which has persistently caused them problems, United will begin 2004 occupying the top spot in the Premiership and it will require all of Arsenal's guile and Chelsea's money to remove them.

They won the hard way, not because Middlesbrough were especially effective, but because United spent the last 25 minutes playing with a man down after the dismissal of Darren Fletcher, who, having already been booked for pulling Stuart Parnaby's shirt, bundled over Boudewijn Zenden.

However, to ask Middlesbrough to score at all, even against 10 men, was asking plenty. The pattern at the Riverside has been for goalless draws - Middlesbrough have not scored a Premiership goal at home since 1 November and, until yesterday, had not conceded one in front of their own supporters since 18 October.

This encounter emphasised those statistics. Gareth Southgate, who might be seen as a short-term replacement for Rio Ferdinand at Old Trafford, smothered Ruud van Nistelrooy so effectively that Manchester United finished the match without a recognised striker, while the return of Ugo Ehiogu for his first match since May merely strengthened their hand. But in attack, Middlesbrough, heavy on talent and short of ideas, struggled even to bring United's keeper into play.

"I don't think Middlesbrough had a real chance in the whole match and our keeper did not have to make a save," Ferguson said. "The referee made a rod for his own back over the sending-off because the first booking was absolutely ridiculous. If you follow that principle, there would have been four or five sent off."

Ferguson suggested the game turned sour at half-time when several of Middlesbrough's back-room staff protested to the referee, Matt Messias, over Roy Keane's tackle on Juninho which, though probably fair, sparked a mid-pitch confrontation and led to two more bookings. Messias had what could be politely described as an indifferent game, the highlight of which was awarding Middlesbrough a corner after Michael Ricketts had rugby-tackled Tim Howard over the byline.

Even with two out-and-out strikers, supported by two attacking midfielders in the shape of Juninho and Gaizka Mendieta, Rio Ferdinand and Mikaël Silvestre were in complete control. They gave out only scraps; Ricketts steered two headers wide, Juninho shot over, but the finest move of the second half came from men in Manchester United shirts. Ryan Giggs delivered a neat cross that Van Nistelrooy shielded and fed to Paul Scholes, whose shot was somehow deflected on to the crossbar by the tips of Mark Schwarzer's gloves.

It would have been far more fitting had this been the goal to settle the match rather than Quinton Fortune's wildly deflected shot. It will be credited to the South African, who was given a clear sight of goal by Mendieta's slip, but the decisive touch was delivered by Danny Mills's stomach, which left Schwarzer utterly stranded.

Mills had recovered from a bout of bronchitis to play yesterday, but it is hard to have too much sympathy with the defender since his tussle with Giggs involved an elbow flung in the Welshman's direction. This may have been a game short on chances but it was also short on tempers.

The final whistle ended Middlesbrough's run of 11 games without defeat which has put them within sight of a Carling Cup final but left them still in danger of being sucked into the relegation zone.

Their manager, Steve McClaren, thought them far too cautious in the first half and far too incoherent when they needed to be collected. His mentor, Ferguson, who is always ready to praise McClaren's teams, remarked that at times Middlesbrough "fought like tigers". This they did, but they lacked teeth and claws.

Goal: Fortune (14) 0-1.

Middlesbrough (4-4-1-1): Schwarzer 7, Mills 6, Southgate 7, Ehiogu 8, Queudrue 5 (Parnaby 6, 19; Downing 6, 73), Mendieta 6, Boateng 5, Greening 4 (Maccarone 4, 73), Zenden 5, Juninho 6, Ricketts 4. Substitutes not used: Jones (gk), Riggott.

Manchester United (4-4-1-1): Howard 5, G Neville 6, Ferdinand 7, Silvestre 7, Fortune 6, Fletcher 5, Keane 7, P Neville 5, Giggs 8, Scholes 7, Van Nistelrooy 5 (Butt, 84). Substitutes not used: Carroll (gk), Brown, Kleberson, Forlan.

Referee: M Messias (York) 4.

Bookings: Middlesbrough: Mills, Boateng, Juninho. Manchester United: P Neville.

Sending off: United: Fletcher.

Man of the match: Giggs.

Attendance: 34,738.