Ease Past M'Boro in the Carling

United 3-1 Middlesboro
Carling Cup 3rd Round; att: 53,729

Well clearly the Carling Cup is never a priority, with 23,000 empty seats you could still have got a ticket on the day. Charging full price instead of a few quid less like all the previous seasons is a bit cheeky. But on the plus side it gives supporters without a season ticket a chance to see Giggs, Ronaldo, Vidic, even Stuart Downing on the pitch. For me I wanted to see Possebon, Manucho and Rafael Da Silva - the lads coming through get a game with a big crowd.

The start was nearly all United possession in the first half though with not much to show. Up pops Ronaldo for a corner to make it 1-0 after about 25 minutes. Second half Middlesboro get one back with a powerful shot after a poor clearance.

There was the unfortunate ugly tackle on Rodrigo Possebon. Straight red without doubt, and you know it was serious with medics and stretchers on straight away. Up until then Possebon in my opionion was the best player on the field. The injury marred the evening. There was nine minutes extra time.

We got to see two goals at our end from Giggs and Nani. We'd have seen some more but their goalie Jones was playing well. Manucho came on, he's tall, is he the biggest player out there? Almost scored with his first touch. Can't judge on someone coming on as late sub.

Tried to make a little movie with my new mobile phone using the basic editing software supplied on the device. The idea was to upload it as a rough cut straight after the match. The result is above. Notice the empty seats, the injury bit and I missed the goals as too busy concentrating on the game.