Man Utd 2-2 M'brough

[Piola]

Manchester United's treble dream survived an FA Cup rollercoaster at the Riverside as they drew 2-2 with Middlesbrough.

In front and in control following Wayne Rooney's clinical strike midway through the first half, United found themselves behind to a durable Middlesbrough side as Lee Cattermole and George Boateng found the net either side of the interval.

But, just as on their last visit to Teesside, Sir Alex Ferguson's men were in receipt of a debatable penalty decision, referee Rob Styles ruling Boateng had handled Rio Ferdinand's flick-on.

That allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to drill home his 17th goal of the campaign and earn an Old Trafford replay on Monday week.

Middlesbrough were worthy of the result, which may have created some kind of record as Gareth Southgate's men have now required second games in every round of the competition.

United have drawn twice themselves now and will probably not relish the return as much as Boro.

With injuries already starting to bite, United lost Edwin van der Sar before kick-off.

Still technically on loan from West Brom, reserve goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak was given an unexpected chance when Van der Sar limped out of the warm up with a calf injury.

The Pole was called into the action early and reacted quickly to race out and block Stewart Downing's early effort after the young winger had darted past Gary Neville into the United box.

For a long time after that, Kuszczak was a mere spectator as United assumed total control.

Branded a cheat by Southgate on his last visit to Teesside after winning his side a controversial penalty, Ronaldo was predictably booed every time he touched the ball.

The winger did not show any sign of the reaction affecting him, although he was upstaged by old-timer Ryan Giggs, who, in a role just behind lone striker Henrik Larsson, created mayhem with his direct running.

It was hardly a surprise Giggs should be heavily involved in the move which saw the visitors seize the initiative, calmly feeding Rooney after Larsson - booked for diving himself on his final United appearance - had turned the ball into his path.

Rooney has hardly been a prolific scorer this season, but the England star happily exploited the room Jonathan Woodgate offered him and belted his 13th goal of the season into the corner of Mark Schwarzer's net.

Middlesbrough were not totally out of it, and Kuszczak needed to make another excellent save to deny Aiyegbeni Yakubu, who rolled Rio Ferdinand and let fly with a volley which the goalkeeper pushed out with a firm arm.

Giggs was agonisingly close to finishing off a sublime chip from Gary Neville with a volley that bounced away off the post and it took a close-range Woodgate block to deny the Welshman, who had skipped past a couple of would-be tacklers.

But the whole game was turned on its head in two minutes either side of the half-time interval.

Cattermole and Boateng had bagged just a single goal between them before this encounter. But what a time for the central midfield duo to explode into life.

First, Cattermole controlled with his chest before smashing home a volley on the turn after Kuszczak had failed to reach a Downing cross nodded back into the danger zone by Arca.

Then, with most supporters still taking their seats for the second half, Boateng was left completely on his own to attack a Downing corner, the Dutchman getting enough force into his header to prevent Giggs being able to hook it off the line.

Yet, in celebrating their lead, Boro made the fatal error of dropping back far too deeply.

The Teessiders had already survived a couple of hairy moments when Ferdinand flicked Giggs' corner straight at Boateng.

To the consternation of the home supporters, referee Rob Styles pointed to the spot, deeming the Boro skipper had deliberately handled.

Ronaldo drove home his first goal outside of league combat this term to earn United another attempt at reaching the last four.

[BAGGIO 15]

BBC MotD Live | Xvid | Widescreen | English


Goals

Dailymotion - 0-1 Rooney
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1etnr ... -10-rooney

Dailymotion - 1-1 Cattermole
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1etyk ... cattermole

Dailymotion - 2-1 Boateng
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1eu7a ... 21-boateng

Dailymotion - 2-2 Ronaldo
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1euji ... 22-ronaldo

[manU4life]

only negative is another fixture...not a bad result considering we never play to well at the riverside and we were without some key players

[LFTWNG11]

only negative is another fixture...not a bad result considering we never play to well at the riverside and we were without some key players

and you got a dogey penalty call

[Jono82]

only negative is another fixture...not a bad result considering we never play to well at the riverside and we were without some key players

and you got a dogey penalty call

an incredibly 'dogey' penalty call!

[Le King]

yeh it was a handball, but still the bloke saw stiff... obv no1 saw the blatent rooney push in the back for a penalty? ohhh thats right... still we were unlucky... 1 nil up inside 20 mins and killin em, then on the 35th min giggs hit the post which woulda been game ova cause we were killin em!
ahh wellz, like sum1 sed it means an extra fixture which we dun wanna play, but wat can ya do, thats y we got a big squad, in the end gd result, i expect 2 finish em off at OT!

[Big_Chief]

Yeah another fixture isn't good news, but at 2-1 down, I was glad to come away with a replay at old trafford. Fixtures are starting to pile up now and with Saha out, Larsson gone, Solsjakaer, it might be up to the forgotten man Alan Smith to show some of that form he had before his broken leg.

Just hope that the year doesn't fall apart for us and quickly, ala Arsenal in the last 3 weeks. This next month will be make or break for us and hopefully we can continue to grind out the results.

I think supporters of clubs like Liverpool underestimate how hard it is to maintain a high level of performance, over so many games. By this time, Liverpool have a realistic chance of winning only one competition (amazingly always a cup competiton) and thus can focus their entire efforts on those particular few games. Hence, it wouldn't surprise to see them make another tilt in Europe, and again be rewarded for their dazzling mediocrity.

[Le King]

the gd news is that scholes will now play vs blackburn and will miss out the return leg of the fa cup!
saha, ole and fletch will all be bak within 2 weeks. saha and fletcher 2 return 4 the blackburn game... expect fergie 2 rest alot vs the world 11 charity game and also with internationals comin up he will pull a few out of the squads

[ronaldo07]

woodgate looks very solid .. clear our chance again and again ...
but the man of the match definitely goes to me again ... im just like unpredictable and too quick for any defender to mark me ...

we should be able to do well in return leg