Manchester United cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Boro got off to a good start and drew the first chance of the match when Stuart Downing whipped a delivery into the area from the flank, with De Roon forcing Smalling to concede a corner.

United had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 7th minute when Marcus Rashford was put through on goal by Jesse Lingard and only had Victor Valdes to beat, but had his effortless low strike saved by the Spaniard.

United forced Valdes into making a double save in the 25th minute when the veteran goalkeeper denied Rashford from five-yards out, before clearing Antonio Valencia’s shot off the line.

However, the Red Devils eventually took the lead five minutes later when Ashley Young cut inside and crossed the ball to the back post to pick out Marouane Fellaini, who nodded the ball into the net to make it 1-0.

In the 39th minute, Fellaini almost found the back of his own net after a low cross cannoned off the Belgian midfielder and looped over the crossbar, to keep his side’s lead intact.

With three minutes left to play in the first half, Rashford had caused all manner of problems for Bernardo this half and for the fifth time the striker got behind Boro’s backline before he found Lingard, but his attempted cross was blocked by Valdes.

After the first 45 minutes of the match, Jose Mourinho’s side went into the half-time interval with a 1-0 lead over Middlesbrough.

United then doubled their lead in the 62nd minute when Jesse Lingard ran into space to make his way to the edge of the area, before smashing his shot into the top corner from 20 yards out to make it 2-0.

Boro had a chance to reduce the deficit in the 67th minute when Negredo was picked out by Ramirez, but the striker could only guide his headed effort wide of the far post.

However, Boro pulled a goal back in the 77th minute when Rudy Gestede slotted the ball into the back of the net from point-blank range, following a Chris Smalling error.

With a minute left to play, Negredo tried an acrobatic effort after a good flick-on from Gestede, but the Spaniard’s connection with the ball wasn’t quite right as he failed to test United goalkeeper De Gea.

United then extended their lead in stoppage time when Valdes slipped and gifted the ball to Valencia to skip past him and put the ball into an empty net.

The Red Devils held on to their 3-1 lead over Boro until the final whistle as they walked away with all three points at the Riverside Stadium.