Steffen: Little chance with Blades' opener and made a brilliant second-half save to deny Brewster. 7.

Dijksteel: Showed confidence going forward and Boro's best defender. 7

Lenihan: Struggled early on and turned for the Blades opener. Couldn't impose order when switched to middle in second half. Did threaten in the other goal and showed character. 6

Fry: Second best to Sharp and came off at the break. 5

Jones: Posed sporadic problems for United and set up Boro's leveller. 6

Howson: Had it all on against an experienced and good rival midfield. 6

McNair: Switched to midfield and played an exquisite ball in build-up to first equaliser. 6

McGree: Booked for getting unneccessarily involved. Fired a good first-half chance at Foderingham and blazed over on the restart. 6

Giles: Horror moment when he panicked and blasted a clearance into his own net to give United the points. Reacted well to be fair and helped set up leveller. 5

Akpom: Scored a landmark goal which clearly meant a lot to him and provided an encore to save Boro. Maybe has a Boro future after all. 8

Forss: Very quiet on his full home debut. 5

Substitutes: Bola (Fry 45) 6; Mowatt (Forss 61), 7; Watmore (Dijksteel 76), 7; Hoppe (Akpom 90).

Not used: Roberts, Smith, Hackney.

Sheffield United

Foderingham: Protected well in the second half. No chance with the goals. 6

Ahmedhovic: Produced one or two cracking tackles and has slotted into the side very nicely indeed. 7

Egan: Saw a goal chalked off for offside. Won his fair share of challenges, but he and his fellow defenders won't have been happy with Boro's second. 7

Norrington-Davies: On a bit of a knife-edge after being booked for bringing down Jones in first half. Reacted well enough. 7

Baldock: Got a bit of stick off Wilder in the first half. Up against a speedster in Giles, but kept him quiet enough until late on. 6

Fleck: Strong work-rate, kept the ball well and typically tidy. 7

Norwood: Produced some eye-catching stuff and was involved in Berge's goal and produced a brilliant flick for the second goal. Top-notch. 8

Lowe: Got through plenty of work and contributed to a good away day, barring the end. 7

Berge: Showed some lovely touches and scored a superb opener. Class act. 8

Ndiaye: Proved a pest for Boro's defenders and produced an assist for the second. 8

Sharp: Strong, streetwise and led the line very well in his first start since March 19. Came off at the break, maybe feeling something. 7

Substitutes: Brewster (Sharp 45). Went close to scoring twice and posed problems for Boro. 7

McBurnie (Ndiaye 81), 6

Not used: Amissah, Khadra, Doyle, McAtee, Gordon.

Ratings: How Middlesbrough FC and Sheffield United players fared at the Riverside Stadium