It's been well over 100 days since United have moved up the Premier League table and at last, a win against Middlesbrough has taken them above Arsenal into fifth.
The last time that United lost in the league was back in late October, when they suffered a 4-0 loss to Chelsea.
As Chelsea stated in their preview of the United v Chelsea FA cup game earlier this month, 'Today's opponents have remained unbeaten in the league since October in a run that has seen them move from sixth to sixth.' Rather controversial by the London club!
Having played 3 games in 6 days, it was never going to be an easy task for the Red Devils. On top of this, many players were unavailable due to injuries and suspensions making a tough game even tougher.
Pogba, Herrera, and Ibrahimović were amongst those out. This left Mourinho with a limited team available to him with the likes of Fellaini, Lingard and Young starting.
This game was the first for Middlesbrough after having sacked Aitor Karanka, so the man on the touchline for the game was Karanka’s assistant.
The game started off with Middelsbrough having many good chances at the United goal, however United were defending well, and using the pace of Rashford and Lingard to exploit the Middlesbrough back line when going forward.
It took just over half an hour for Fellaini to find the back of the net after an inch perfect cross found him looping over Valdes in goal leaving Fellaini to head it home for 1-0. This lead was then extended in the second half after another United counter attack found Lingard who rocketed a shot into the top corner with a delicious finish from the edge of the box.
Middlesbrough were once again applying pressure to United and after a mistake at the back from Smailling, Gested found the back of the net to get Middlesbrough back in the game.
Just after the goal, it all kicked off in the box with both sets of players unhappy with each other while a corner was being taken. Shortly after this, Valdes found the ball at his feet, and as he went to kick the ball up the field, he slipped and gave the ball to Valencia who scored the easiest goal of his career, wrapping up the three points.
United now sit 5th in front of Arsenal with a fantastic chance of overtaking Liverpool with their two games in hand while Middlesbrough continue their fight for safety down at the bottom of the table.
Jack Antoniou
Whitgift School
