Berbatov gives United more Christmas cheer

Dimitar Berbatov still to hit it off at Manchester United since arriving from Spurs in September, settled this tense clash with a 69th minute volley to give the Champions League holders a 1-0 victory here on Monday.

And it ensured that Premier League champions United, who extended their run without conceding a league goal to ten hours and two minutes, remained well in contention for the title going into the New Year.

United's 1-0 victory at Stoke on Friday, courtesy of a late goal from Carlos Tevez, kept the champions within touching distance of leaders Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.

But United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was without the Argentinian forward for this game after allowing him to return to South America to deal with a 'family issue' in Buenos Aires.

Still, with Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo available up-front, United certainly possessed ample firepower with which to overcome Middlesbrough. But in a wasteful first-half, chances went astray and Ronaldo was the main culprit.

The Portuguese forward, wearing a pair of luminous lime green boots, hardly justified his bold choice of footwear as he fluffed a series of clear-cut chances to score his first league goals for six weeks.

As early as the seventh minute, Ronaldo was found unmarked on the penalty spot by South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung, but instead of slotting past goalkeeper Ross Turnbull, the United star aimed a limp left-foot effort wide of the post.

He then went close with two free-kicks in quick succession before shooting wide at the far post once more on twenty-two minutes after Darren Fletcher had dummied Rooney's cross for Ronaldo.

United could at least console themselves by their heavy dominance of possession, but Middlesbrough had the ability to hurt them on the break and Brazilian striker Afonso Alves almost embarrassed them when he shot narrowly over the crossbar after skilfully escaping the attentions of defender Nemanja Vidic.

The game exploded in first-half stoppage time, however, when referee Martin Atkinson enraged Ronaldo by failing to award a penalty after the United man had been dragged to the ground by Emmanuel Pogatetz.

Ronaldo continued to complain to Atkinson after the half-time whistle, before racing half the length of the pitch to confront Pogatetz near the players' tunnel. The pair clashed heads and continued their row outside the dressing-rooms.

The simmering tensions subsided in the second-half, but United's performance did not improve and Middlesbrough were hugely unlucky not to take the lead through Tuncay Sanli on 62 minutes.

Matthew Bates's cross from the right-flank was met by the Turkey international with a diving header, but Tuncay could only watch as the ball flashed inches wide of Edwin van der Sar's left-hand post.

It was a real let-off for United and they made it count seven minutes later when Berbatov broke the deadlock with only his third goal for the club since his £30.75m September arrival from Spurs.

Park's tenacity led to Michael Carrick crossing into the penalty area and, when David Wheater failed to clear, Berbatov volleyed past Turnbull from close range to open the scoring and take United three points closer to Liverpool at the top of table.