Manchester United's six-match winning streak came to an end after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Middlesbrough, who played without Egyptian duo Mohamed Shawky and Mido. In-form Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo put United in front after just 10 minutes. Striker Afonso Alves, who arrived from Dutch side Heerenveen in January, scored his first goal for Boro ten minutes before the break to level the score. The Brazilian frontman put the hosts early in the second period before Wayne Rooney secured a share of spoils in the 74th minute. United are still in charge of the Premiership table with 77 points, three ahead of second-placed Chelsea, whose league hopes have been heavily revived. Boro lie 14th on 35 points as they have virtually guaranteed top-division safety. Egyptian striker Mido did not take part in the game after undergoing a hernia operation that will sideline him until the end of the season. Midfielder Shawky was omitted from the match's squad for an undisclosed reason.
Rooney notched United's equalizer Ronaldo needed 10 minutes to break the deadlock as he continued his outstanding goalscoring run. Michael Carrick controlled a corner kick in the left-hand side of the penalty area, tricked a challenger before providing a pass across goal to Ronaldo, who slotted from close range. Jeremie Aliadiere should have notched the equalizer midway through the first-half when he was fed by a neat pass inside the area, but he dragged his shot wide. Ronaldo wasted a glorious opportunity to double United's advantage in the 29th minute after a brilliant individual effort. He skipped past three defenders and went through on goal but blasted his shot wide. Afonso drew Middlesbrough level in the 35th minute after he capitalized on some poor defending to go one-on-one and hit a low shot past Edwin van der Sar. He added the second in the 56th minute when he latched onto Aliadiere's flick-on to go clear before curling a superb shot into the top corner. Rooney ensured United got something from the game after he connected with Ji-Sung Park's low cross to drill a shot that took a deflection off a defender and went into the net.
