The hard-earned point moves Sir Alex Ferguson's men three points ahead of second-placed Chelsea, but the Reds were made to battle from the very first whistle.

Afonso Alves (35 and 56) grabbed his first goals in English football as the Brazilian forward displayed just why Gareth Southgate shelled out £12million for his services.

Cristiano Ronaldo had fired United ahead early on before Alves' brace, but it was Rooney who grabbed United a valuable point against an impressive Middlesbrough outfit.

Ronaldo needed just 10 minutes to blast home his 37th goal of a sensational season.

Boro failed to clear a Ryan Giggs corner and when Michael Carrick waltzed around Jeremie Aliadiere and slid the ball across the six-yard box, Ronaldo was on cue to tap home the opener.

But Boro were level deservedly level 10 minutes before the break when Aliadiere flicked on Gary O'Neil's long pass to Alves and the striker produced a neat finish into the corner.

The home side were out of the traps quickly in the second half, and with 55 minutes on the clock Boro were ahead as Alves showed his coolness in front of goal again with a side-footed finish after collecting Aliadiere's flick-on.

Wayne Rooney fired just wide of Mark Schwarzer's goal, but on 74 minutes the England man dispatched his 17th goal of the season after sub Ji-Sung Park's pull-back. Rooney's effort deflected off David Wheater to make it 2-2 on an exhilarating afternoon on Teesside.