"Dreadful Man Utd hammered by Boro"

Now THAT is a headline I'd love to see more frequently!

Edwin van der Sar gifted Middlesbrough the lead when he let Gaizka Mendieta's shot slip through his fingers.

A mistake by Rio Ferdinand let in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for the second, and Yakubu Ayegbeni made it 3-0 from the spot after Stuart Parnaby was fouled.

Yakubu set up Mendieta to make it 4-0, and even Cristiano Ronaldo's header did not take the shine off Boro's victory.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side play Chelsea at Old Trafford on 6 November but will go into that game already 13 points adrift of the leaders — albeit with a game in hand — and with their title hopes hanging by a thread.

The writing was on the wall for them here after just two minutes when Van der Sar's mistake allowed Boro their opener.

Even though the game was televised in our area (on tape delay), I didn't get to watch the match, having had to leave the house earlier in the morning. I heard the score in a bookstore in Port Perry, as the bookseller and a customer were grumbling over Manchester United's terrible game.