Hargreaves makes long-awaited return for United

Man Utd v Middlesbrough

Owen Hargreaves was handed only his fourth Manchester United start as the Red Devils looked to reach the Barclays Premier League summit by beating Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.

Boro have lost on just one of their last six league visits to the Theatre of Dreams but Gareth Southgate’s men were faced by a battery of attacking stars as Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo were asked to supply support to the main front men, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

As expected, Mido missed out for the visitors after failing to recover from a hamstring injury but, more surprisingly, there was no place in the Boro starting line-up for skipper George Boateng, who only made the bench.