Article by Mark Graham, Stats Nerd

Match Review
F.A. Cup Quarter Final, Middlesbrough 2 v 2 Manchester United, Riverside Stadium, 17.30pm, Saturday 10th March 2007.
Goals: Middlesbrough: Cattermole (45), Boateng (47).      Manchester United: Rooney (23), Ronaldo (pen 68).
Attendance: 33,308

United 's two wonder kids both scored a goal in each half to earn a replay at Old Trafford as Middlesbrough proved stubborn if not fortunate opponents in this Quarter Final FA Cup fixture.  United lost another player to injury as EVDS (calf) inured himself in the warm up & was replaced by Tomasz Kuszczak leaving the Reds with no reserve keeper named in their substitutes.

As the game settled United were the first to be forced on the back foot as Arca's pass was delivered behind the United defence giving the lively Stewart Downing an opportunity which Tomasz Kuszczak was required to earn his keep after running from his line & blocking the Boro wingers effort.  Wayne Rooney then missed a chance with Woodgate following closely after being spoon fed by Henrik Larsson who was playing his last game for United.  The Reds minutes later then took the lead in the 23rd minute after Ryan Giggs passed to Rooney, he shot from left side beating Mark Schwarzer.

Middlesbrough out for the equaliser & looking like the team was able to score forced Kuszczak into another save after the handful that is Yakubu turned Rio Ferdinand resulting in another fine save from Kuszczak.

Giggs almost made it 2-1 after a Neville cross was met by the winger who seems to have exited his dip in form, the Welsh winger struck the post.

Boro then equalised on the stroke of half time after Kuszczak came for the ball, Arca headed the ball back into the United penalty area where , Cattermole volleyed home on the spin beating the United keeper who could have done better.

At the interval the Reds headed for the dressing room for the half time break, but would soon find themselves 2-1 down as the start of the second half Cattermole won a corner which Downing crossed only to be met by George Boateng totally unchallenged heading into the net & leaving the United defence reds faced.

Hero then turned to Villain as Boateng was judged to have handled in the Boro box after using his blocking a Rio Ferdinand header, Ronaldo smashed home the penalty and the United were level.

As the game wore to its final stages both teams failed to create anything of worth & Boro would again find themselves in a replay situation against Premiership opponents this time around and a daunting trip to Old Trafford.

United Starting Line-up
Rant Ratings in parenthesis
Kuszczak (7); Neville (6), Ferdinand (7), Vidic (7), Heinze (6); Ronaldo (7), O'Shea (6), Carrick (6), Giggs (8); Rooney (7), Larsson (6).
Subs Used: n/a
Subs not used: Brown, Park, Smith, Richardson, Eagles.

United's Man of the Match
Ryan Giggs played well hitting a post & being a general pain to the Boro defence.

Match Reaction
Two weak goals to concede & who the hell was supposed to mark Boateng, remove the mistakes & a comfortable win is ours.

Was our Prediction Right?
We said 2-1, United Rant 7 v 35 Wrong Predictions.

Milestones
Wayne Rooney's 6th FA Cup goal of his United career & 49th goal overall.
Cristiano Ronaldo's 7thFA Cup goal of his United career & 44th goal overall.
Gary Neville is now 5th in the All Time competitive Appearances table with 530 games.

Miscellaneous Info
United’s next match is on Saturday 17th March 2007 (H) to Bolton Wanderers in the Premiership, 12.45pm K.O.