A TOUCH of class in front of the Riverside dug-outs from Arsenal's Patrick Vieira got the ball under instant control.

Middlesbrough's George Boateng ran quickly to close the Frenchman down, only to be left embarrassed when Vieira flicked the ball over Boateng's head before skipping around the Dutchman and starting a triangle passing routine normally associated on the training field.

Simplicity in itself, and a quick reminder to Boateng just why he has such glowing admiration for his fellow centre-midfielder.

Boro's battler is no mug. A Dutch international and a man who has commanded respect from Premiership opponents while playing on Teesside and during spells for both Coventry City and Aston Villa.

But in Vieira, Arsenal have a world-class talent; and it was easy to see why Real Madrid have never hidden their hopes of adding the former AC Milan man to their star-studded squad at the Bernabeu.

Boateng revealed before the match that he enjoys taking on the best to see how he measures up against them. Unfortunately for Steve McClaren's men this was Vieira's day.

It is true that Boateng cannot be 100 per cent match fit just yet. He only returned to game action at Fulham last weekend and failed to make it through the 90 minutes.

But even if he had not just made a comeback from an ankle operation, the Holland international would have had his work cut out trying to contain his French counterpart.

Boateng knew he was in for a tough afternoon inside the opening quarter of an hour.

A powerful tackle from the Gunners skipper left Boro's holding player lying on the sun-baked Riverside turf.

Vieira earned the ball before starting a move which ended with Mark Schwarzer having to push Sylvain Wiltord's shot away for a corner.

Prior to that, Vieira had helped create the opening goal when he passed to Frederik Ljungberg. The Swede's effort was half saved by Schwarzer and Thierry Henry had the easy job of finding the early breakthrough.

Arsenal's craft and guile was always going to be a problem for the home side and McClaren knew Vieira's presence would always be a headache.

But the way the towering middle-man dictated play will have left the Boro boss purring.

Neat one twos with the always impressive Henry; 40-yard cross-field balls to his teammates, and pure body strength to earn him possession. In fact, the only thing lacking from his skills was a goal.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.