THE TELEGRAPH
What, within reason, could be better? An autumn afternoon leaden enough to dictate that the lights shine down on lush turf, Old Trafford's customary full house and a performance from the visitors so spirited that Manchester United had to come up with a display featuring two candidates for goal of the season in order to defeat them.
Although Nani's, from long range before Middlesbrough had settled, was breathtakingly spectacular, it will take something very special over the next six months to take my vote away from the first of Carlos Tevez's pair. To say it was a stroked sidefooter after a one-two with Wayne Rooney would be (as J B Priestley might have put it) to call a violin so much wood and catgut. The move was all one-touch, apart from Rooney's preparation for a backheel, and so beautifully precise it might almost have been conceived as mockery of the notion that Tevez and Rooney cannot play together.
If this, a fourth consecutive four-goal victory, is the future of Manchester United, it works a treat, and, if the future of England's Premier League is that Sir Alex Ferguson's new United are to contest supremacy with Arsenal as delightfully rebuilt by Arsene Wenger - the sides meet at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday - and Chelsea's six-hitters, so much the better for romantics. Or, as my companion in the press box here less excitedly remarked: ''Games like this make up for all the dross."
That he can combine predatory ruthlessness with teamwork was emphasised after the interval. Anderson chipped the ball forward, Tevez laid it off instantly and Rooney dragged Wheater away from goal before backheeling into space for his Argentine colleague, who calmly finished matters off. ''It summed up the partnership," said Ferguson. ''Quick thinking, great vision - and the courage to do it. Fantastic goal."
A better disciplined and more defensively sound United - though they still entertained - saw out the next half-hour until Tevez, profiting from Rooney's break, shot in off the bodies of Andrew Taylor, one of the youngsters whom Southgate justifiably praised, and Schwarzer. Tevez revelled in his right to roam, while Rooney led the line. True, there was not much of an aerial threat but, on days like this, who cares?
THE OBSERVER
Manchester United moved back to the top of the Premier League table and equalled a 100-year-old record by hitting four goals in a fourth consecutive game. Arsenal are likely to provide an end to the sequence next weekend, though with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez in this form you wouldn't necessarily bank on it.
Middlesbrough were not quite the punchbags the scoreline might suggest, though at the moment Gareth Southgate's well-mannered team are ideal opponents for anyone seeking to boost confidence or goal difference. They tried to take on United at football, and while they certainly showed they can play, they only ended up being played off the park.
'We are just minutes away from another Premier League classic,' the Old Trafford announcer intoned shortly before kick-off, either looking into a crystal ball or assuming that patronising the paying public was part of his job. No one was complaining six minutes later, however, for even by that early stage the afternoon had been graced by two goals of breathtaking quality. United's opener was simply staggering, a 30-yard screamer from Nani that caused jaws to drop all around the stadium and left Luke Young and Jonathan Woodgate feeling particularly foolish for allowing the winger to saunter in from the left touchline and shoot at his leisure. Mark Schwarzer could see the dipping shot all the way but never got close to reaching it.
United could have had a second almost immediately, when Cristiano Ronaldo sent Tevez through Boro's risky offside trap, though David Wheater managed to make him hurry and an attempted chip of the goalkeeper landed safely in Schwarzer's arms. Boro at that moment looked as ghastly as their lamentable strip - described as gold in the brochure though in reality more like beige or biscuit - yet within a minute they were level with Jeremie Aliadiere's first goal for the club.
Boro probably need to do some of the ugly things associated with survival, such as getting in their opponents' faces and grinding out a few scruffy victories. Conceding a fourth goal was inevitable, simply because United wanted it. Schwarzer did his best to block a shot from Tevez after Rooney broke from half way, but when the ball came down from his point-blank save it bounced over his line anyway. Cruel, though by that stage Boro were long resigned to coming second.
INDIE
It started with a magical individual execution, and flamboyant celebration from the Portuguese Nani and was ultimately won by a brace from the Argentinian Carlos Tevez as Manchester United secured their eighth successive victory, the League leadership, and equalled a 100-year-old club record with four goals in four successive games. Yet, it would not have been lost on the Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate that this defeat could be attributed in large part to an Englishmen.
Wayne Rooney did not merely continue his splendid scoring sequence - it is now eight goals in seven games for club and country - and combine so intuitively with Tevez, a combination which many insisted initially could not produce dividends, but was the heartbeat of a team, which are currently in such irresistible mood. "Wayne and Carlos are doing fantastically well together," said Ferguson. "They will mature and develop as experienced players. When they do that, hopefully we will see the complete partnership." Mind you, Rooney's goal just after the half hour which could well be said to have been the defining moment of this contest, was also the result of a less welcome English contribution - a dreadful defensive clanger from another International.
Southgate's team were withstanding all that United hurled at them, and had largely silenced the crowd, until, with the score at 1-1 Stewart Downing's error offered Rooney the kind of opportunity he does not squander. After that, there was no way back for the men from Teesside. "Some of our attacking play at times was very good," said Ferguson, who was able to name Owen Hargreaves to start his first Premier League game since early September, and watched him exude authority in midfield. "But we took our foot off the pedal and paid the penalty. But there was no doubt about us in the second half."
Boro, despite having lost only one of their last six visits here, will have rarely arrived to find United in more exhilarating mood. In those circumstances, what they did not need was a spectacular piece of improvisation from Nani after only three minutes when he dispatched the ball over Mark Schwarzer from 30 yards.
After the restart the partnership between Tevez and Rooney always looked likely to produce dividends. Ten minutes after the break, the pair again combined. It was a beautiful move began by Anderson's ball to Tevez, and continued with Rooney's impudent backheel for the Argentinian who beat Schwarzer with aplomb. It emphasised Rooney's great awareness of how the game is unfolding around him. "It needed quick thinking, great vision and courage," said Ferguson. "Wayne was in the box and he could have taken a touch. But he knows Carlos is making the run and the back-heel puts him in."
SUNDAY TIMES
By the time he next stands in the home dugout at Old Trafford, when Dynamo Kiev visit on November 7, Sir Alex Ferguson will have celebrated 21 years as Manchester United manager. It is a wonderful thing for football that this Scotsman will never come of age.
It is supposed to be more hardheaded these days, more of a business off the pitch and an athletic contest on it, but nothing could make Ferguson lose the feeling that connects us all to the game as children: this is a sport of unpredictability and joy. He has never tried to constrain his players by prioritising defensive duties and nor, in selecting footballers, is he blinkered by the modern verities of power and pace.
United were smaller than Middlesbrough, less disciplined, and probably didn't work as hard. They murdered them. For a fourth consecutive time they scored four or more goals in a game, something United last achieved in 1907. The one that cemented that statistic was impressive but the one which preceded it was as fine a goal as will be seen all season.
In an attacking quartet of stellar presences, Wayne Rooney shone bright and coaxed Carlos Tevez, who started poorly, first back into form and then a spate of grace. Owen Hargreaves started a move, Anderson clipped a pass to Tevez, and the Argentine volleyed to Rooney. Rooney controlled instantly with his right foot and backheeled the ball with his left into space 12 yards out where he knew Tevez would be arriving. Tevez rolled the ball past Mark Schwarzer. "It's not the sort of thing you can practice," Rooney said. "The moment Carlos gave me the ball I could see him out of the corner of my eye starting his run. He's a clever player."
It was bewitching stuff and with United 3-1 ahead and 25 minutes remaining the rest was always going to be a slight anticlimax. Yet there was time for one more Rooney-Tevez act. Cristiano Ronaldo released Rooney inside United's half and the striker charged 50 yards before slipping Tevez clear inside the Middlesbrough box. Tevez drew a defender, cut back onto his right foot and drove for goal. Andrew Taylor dived across the flight path and got his arm to the shot but only succeeded in diverting it past Schwarzer.
Alan Wiley, the referee, turned a blind eye to Taylor's offence. A red card for Middlesbrough, on top of everything else, would have been too much. The crumbs of prawn sandwiches were still being wiped from Old Trafford lips when Nani scored a scorching goal. Collecting on the left flank, he glided past Gary O'Neil and drove at Mick Young and, when the full-back stood off, took advantage of the space to shift onto his right foot. Cattermole had strained sinews to get back but his desperate tackle was too late. Nani, still 30 yards out, speared a shot over Schwarzer, high into the net.