United were rattled - Southgate

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate admitted his side had “rattled” Manchester United after they drew 2-2 with Premier League leaders at the Riverside.

Cristiano Ronaldo put United ahead in the 10th minute after he turned home a Ryan Giggs corner from close range.

Alves equalised for Middlesbrough in the 35th minute with his first goal for the club since his move from Heerenveen during the January transfer window.

The Brazil international latched on to Jeremie Aliadiere’s flick and he kept his cool to lift the ball over the Edwin van der Sar.

Alves put Boro ahead in the 56th minute with Aliadiere again providing the assist which the 27-year-old striker bent round a static van der Sar.

United though refused to lie down and Wayne Rooney smashed home after good work down the right flank by substitute Ji-Sung Park.

Southgate said: “I am happy with the way we played. We had a full house today and we gave a good account of ourselves so I am pleased.

“We were up against a team that are both outstanding to watch and to test ourselves against and we had them rattled. Both the goals we scored were good goals and we had them rattled.

“The team performance was excellent. We answered most of the questions and had them on the back foot for the majority of the game.

“I’ve spoken to the players afterwards following recent games.

“We’ve now been to Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and given a good account of ourselves. They are a young group of lads who will grow as a team.”

Southgate also praised Alves after he collected his first goals in a Middlesbrough shirt.

He added: “I felt in training he was looking sharp and you get a feel for these things – he has shown the quality he has got.

“There is still more to come from him. He looked sharp, has a good temperament and his goals were crucial but I think we still won’t see the best of him until the summer.”

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was also relieved to come away with a point and felt the game was a great spectacle for both sets of supporters.

“We could have lost the game there’s no question – they had some chances,” Ferguson told MUTV.

“At times the defending was a bit haphazard I thought.

“But in other ways we could have won the game because some of the approach and football was very good. At 1-0 we looked very strong.

“They changed after starting off with two wide players and one forward and that obviously made it harder to beat them.

“We controlled the game and Wayne Rooney was unluckily given offside when he clearly wasn’t.

“They changed their formation back to a 4-4-2, got an equaliser, and it was a great game of football after that.”