No word from Ralf Rangnick, but worry not, because Jamie Jackson’s report has landed. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
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Chris Wilder talks to ITV. “The FA Cup is alive and kicking, especially in Middlesbrough. Not always the best team wins. We rode our luck at times, showed plenty of spirit, the keeper made plenty of saves, and we took our opportunity. I thought straight away it was hand ball, and it would be chalked off, so obviously I was delighted it wasn’t. We didn’t practice penalties, you can’t replicate doing that in front of the Stretford End. We took some really good penalties and heaped the pressure on.”
Duncan Watmore discusses the handball incident that led to Middlesbrough’s goal. “If I’m honest, it was completely accidental. I know it touched my hand but it was not intended at all. It was amazing to make a difference. Me and Crooksy were at United here together so it’s quite special for both of us, and the fact he scored made it even more special.”
Boro defender Paddy McNair, formerly of United, talks to ITV. “We started the first half slow, but the second half we played really well. We deserved the equaliser. United weren’t taking their chances and that gave us a bit of a lift. Ronaldo’s penalty was a big moment too. I had seven very good years here, but it’s a brilliant feeling.”
RESULT: Manchester United 1-1 Middlesbrough (aet; Boro win 8-7 on pens)
Poor Elanga. The young lad looks close to tears. Jones advises him to keep his chin up, then Fred, Fernandes and Mata rally round. A pat and a warm arm around the shoulder from Ronaldo A lot of shocked and sullen faces in the United camp as they wander off. Chris Wilder and his player meanwhile race up the other end of the stadium and cavort in front of the 9,000 travelling fans. Wilder, a winner here last year with Sheffield United, has come to Old Trafford and done a number on the hosts again!
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PENALTIES: United 7-8 Boro. Elanga hoicks a dreadful effort over the bar and Manchester United are out! Middlesbrough are the first team into the bag for the fifth-round draw!
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PENALTIES: United 7-8 Boro. Peltier hoicks into the top right. Postage stamp stuff. He absolutely roofed that.
PENALTIES: United 7-7 Boro. Dalot takes a long run-up, stops, does a little dance, and dispatches cleanly into the bottom right.
PENALTIES: United 6-7 Boro. It’s a Friday night Fry all right, the defender whipping into the left-hand side of the goal, Henderson going the wrong way.
PENALTIES: United 6-6 Boro. McTominay lashes into the bottom left. Not in the corner, and Lumley guessed correctly, but the pace did for the keeper.
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PENALTIES: United 5-6 Boro. Watmore opens his body and slots into the bottom right.
PENALTIES: United 5-5 Boro. Fernandes performs a little jig, sends Lumley to the left, and rolls into the bottom right. Beyond nonchalant! What a penalty!
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PENALTIES: United 4-5 Boro. It’s effectively sudden death now. Bamba cracks one into the bottom left, and Fernandes has to score or United are out.
PENALTIES: United 4-4 Boro. Ronaldo, who missed one in the first half, makes no mistake this time, whacking into the top left. Lumley got a finger to it, but the power won out.
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PENALTIES: United 3-4 Boro. Tavernier opts for a short run-up, blows out hard, and larrups a stunner into the top right.
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PENALTIES: United 3-3 Boro. Now it’s Fred’s turn to squeak one under the keeper, sending his into the bottom right, Lumley nearly getting there.
PENALTIES: United 2-3 Boro. Howson lashes into the bottom right, Henderson nowhere near this time.
PENALTIES: United 2-2 Boro. Maguire whips into the bottom left. That’s a wonderful penalty, Lumley having been sent the wrong way.
PENALTIES: United 1-2 Boro. Payero slots into the bottom right. Henderson guesses correctly, but dives over the ball. So close to drawing first blood in United’s favour.
PENALTIES: United 1-1 Boro. Mata responds by whipping into the top right, sending Lumley the wrong way.
PENALTIES: United 0-1 Boro. By comparison to United, Middlesbrough have won nine of their last 11 shootouts. They start this one well, former United man McNair calmly passing into the bottom right.
Manchester United have lost six of their last seven shootouts in all competitions. This one will be played out in front of the Stretford End, Manchester United having won the toss. Middlesbrough to go first.
EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Manchester United 1-1 Middlesbrough
Penalties it is!
ET 3o min +2: A long Hail Mary ball forces Dijksteel into a panicked header behind. Corner. From the set piece, Fernandes smacks a cross-cum-shot through the box from the left. Jones bravely meets the thunderbolt with a header that flashes over the bar. That’s surely it.
ET 30 min +1: Fred crosses from the left. Ronaldo tries to bring the ball down at the far post with a telescopic leg, but can’t control. Boro clear their lines again.
ET 30 min: It is now tipping down at Old Trafford. There will be two extra minutes for United to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
ET 29 min: Shaw’s free kick is punched clear by Lumley. Dalot returns the ball. McTominay sends a header straight at Lumley, the keeper tipping over. Mata takes the corner. Tavernier batters clear.
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ET 28 min: Jones can’t continue. Bamba comes on in his place.
ET 27 min: Watmore crudely barges McTominay to the floor, and it’s a free kick for United out on the left. Before it can be taken, Jones goes down with cramp.
ET 26 min: The United faithful chant “Attack! Attack! Attack!” Maguire makes off down the left, to little effect.
ET 25 min: From the resulting free kick, launched into the United mixer, McNair wins a header at the left-hand post, teeing up Connolly who attempts to pinball-flip past Henderson from six yards. Henderson does extremely well to react, parry and gather with a strong left arm.
ET 24 min: Ronaldo gives the ball away to Connolly, who spins Fred in the centre circle only to be hauled back. Fred is booked for his cynicism.
ET 23 min: Tavernier swings it to the far post. Howson can’t win the header, and Shaw clears out for another throw. Boro eat up some more clock. This is not where United want to be.
ET 22 min: Tavernier loops the free kick long. Fry rises at the far post and forces Maguire into the concession of a corner. Tavernier to take.
ET 21 min: A couple of throws for Boro. They take their sweet time over them. The second is flung down the line and Jones clumsily barges Connolly to the floor. Free kick, and a chance for Boro to load the box.
ET 20 min: Shaw crosses dangerously from the left ... but there’s only Ronaldo in the middle, and he’s not in a place to take advantage from a ball that’s begging to be hammered home. The ball flies away from danger.
ET 18 min: Dalot is in a lively mood right now. He powers into the Boro box down the right. Things nearly open up for him, but Tavernier stands firm and keeps the door shut.
ET 17 min: Ronaldo, spinning to the right of the Boro D, takes a snapshot that’s blocked at source. United come again through Dalot down the right. He curls onto Fernandes’ head. Fernandes flashes an effort goalwards from six yards. Lumley tips over, and the flag goes up for offside anyway.
Boro get the second half of extra time underway. Their fans are doing most of the singing right now. Old Trafford is otherwise palpably nervous.
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Manchester United 1-1 Middlesbrough
We’re 15 minutes away from a penalty shoot-out.
ET 15 min: United pass it around the back in an extremely skittish fashion. Old Trafford responds with a mixture of groans and yelps. But eventually they play their way out and fly up the other end, where Fred slices miles wide right from the edge of the box.
ET 14 min: Ronaldo threatens to break clear into the box but is shepherded wide left by Fry. Ronaldo still manages to shovel a cross into the mixer, though, and it’s clawed away from danger by Lumley with McTominay waiting to head home.
ET 13 min: Jones asks a question of Henderson with a short backpass. The keeper answers it by blootering clear under pressure from Watmore.
ET 11 min: Elanga chases after McTominay’s pass down the left channel. He’s barged over by Jones, and wants a free kick to the left of the D, but the referee waves play on, with the ball breaking to Ronaldo in the box. From a tight angle on the left, Ronaldo whips it into the side netting. United would rather have had the free kick, surely, though Elanga was offside when he received the pass, so morally it’s swings and roundabouts.
ET 10 min: Sancho can’t carry on, and makes way for Mata.
ET 9 min: Fernandes goes down, having shipped an accidental knee on the coccyx from Peltier. After some attention from the physio, he’s back up again.
ET 7 min: ... so having said that, Watmore bursts into space down the right and drives a gloriously dangerous ball through the six-yard box. Connolly should be ramming it home, but he’s not anticipated things, and the chance is gone.
ET 6 min: It’s all a bit scrappy at the moment. Boro will be perfectly content with this, if penalties were offered right now, they’d surely snatch your hand off.
ET 5 min: Sancho is back up and running again. Cramp rather than a hamstring issue, which is good news all round.
ET 3 min: Sancho sits down, holding the back of his thigh. Maguire rolls the ball out so the doc can take a look. “I like Montrose, especially the albums with Sammy Hagar, and I have no objection to Arbroath being promoted.” Joe Pearson there, rocking and rolling. He’s here all week. Try the smokies.
ET 1 min: Fernandes shapes to shoot on the edge of the D but ends up kicking Tavernier instead. United were looking for a fast start there.
Tell you what, the 75,000 thirsty punters inside Old Trafford will be positively gasping for a pint by the time this is over. A couple of changes for Boro, who replace Taylor and Sporar with Peltier and Connolly, while United replace Varane with Jones. Off we go again, then!
FULL TIME: Manchester United 1-1 Middlesbrough
Sancho teases a cross in from the left in the hope of finding Ronaldo, but it’s another easy pick for Lumley, and into extra time we’ll go. Another strange up and down performance by United, but a staunch effort by Boro, even if the officials were kind in awarding their equaliser. “Can Man United afford not to offer Arbroath boss Dick Campbell the managers job in the summer?” wonders Simon McMahon.
90 min +3: Thirty minutes of extra time loom. This state of affairs didn’t look on the cards after an hour.
90 min +2: Fred dribbles magnificently down the left and reaches the byline, standing one up for Elanga at the far post. A header either side of Lumley, and it’s a dramatic winner. Elanga sends his effort straight at the keeper. United have had their chances all right.
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90 min +1: The first of four added minutes passes without too much incident.
90 min: Sporar chases after a ball bouncing down the inside-right channel. From the edge of the box, he larrups an overly ambitious effort deep into the stand. Tomorrow’s headlines running through his mind, there.
89 min: Shaw barrels in from the left and thinks about shooting. He rolls across for Ronaldo instead, but can’t find his man. Boro half clear. Fred curls in from the right, and Elanga sends a diving header wide right from six yards out.
88 min: Back at Old Trafford, United are huffing and puffing and not really achieving much. Extra time very much looms, unless someone can pull something out of the drama bag. Ron? Anything in there?
86 min: It’s full time in the Scottish Championship, and Arbroath have beaten Kilmarnock 1-0, thanks to Jack Hamilton’s second-half goal, and despite James Craigen getting his marching orders for a studs-up lunge late on. Is there anyone, other than fans of Montrose, who doesn’t want to see the Red Lichties in the Premiership next season? The answer to that is no.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arbroath | 23 | 20 | 44 |
| 2 | Kilmarnock | 23 | 12 | 40 |
| 3 | Inverness CT | 23 | 11 | 38 |
| 4 | Raith | 24 | 7 | 37 |
| 5 | Partick | 21 | 15 | 36 |
84 min: Dalot swings in from the right. Howson clears from the middle of a crowded box. This could be a tense few minutes for Boro with United cranking up the tempo in search of another of their world-famous late winners.
82 min: United make a double change. Rashford and Pogba make way for Elanga and Fred.
81 min: Pogba tries to steer Shaw’s header goalwards, but it’s an easy pouch for Lumley.
80 min: Sancho works his way down the right and earns a corner. A huge roar, despite United’s pitiful record from corners this season. What a time this would be to break their duck!
78 min: The goalscorer Crooks is replaced by Payero. Here’s Simon McMahon again: “I fear your ‘Arbroath are smoking’ reference will be lost on most of your readers, Scott. But not me. There can’t be many clubs that have a smoked haddock - Smokie Joe - as their club mascot. I wonder what the Old Trafford prawn sandwich brigade would make of him, or her? Into stoppage time now, and there’s nobody leaving.”
76 min: Some space for Ronaldo just to the left of goal. He tries to curl goalwards. Blocked. The ball breaks to Fernandes, who tugs another long-distance shot wide left. “Just to remind folks who were wondering where did all the drinks went, a shipment was tracked near the VAR office.” Yash Gupta, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the non-existent pie.
74 min: United have missed an absurd number of chances, and now we’re sailing towards the business end of proceedings, when nerves start to jangle. What a weird game this has been. “I’m a diehard Liverpool fan and I would LOVE for United to get knocked out today,” Puneet Varier admits, cards all over the table, “but that was the most blatant handball ever and I don’t think anyone can claim they understand the actual rule anymore. Farcical.”
72 min: Rashford zips past Taylor down the right with absurd ease and enters the box. He smashes a shot straight at Lumley, then gives away a free kick by battling for the rebound in an over-zealous manner. Then Lumley scuffs a clearance towards Howson, who is instantly robbed by the buzzing Fernandes. He’s through on goal! He has to score, with only Lumley to beat, but in aiming for the bottom left, hits the base of the post instead. This is quite astonishing.
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71 min: Tavernier is booked for a cynical tug on Pogba.
70 min: Watmore and Sporar combine crisply down the right, and for a second it looks as though the latter is through on goal, with only Henderson to beat from a tight angle. But in slides Maguire to save the day and deny Sporar a shooting opportunity. United will be ruing all those missed chances right now.
68 min: According to ITV’s touchline reporter Gabriel Clarke, Chris Wilder and everyone else in the Boro dugout were surprised that the goal was awarded. But here we are. VAR indeed says it was an “accidental hand ball”, which was why the goal stood. What a game is football.
66 min: That’ll cause some controversy should United end up going out tonight. Presumably the handball was deemed accidental, and also wasn’t the action that directly led to the goal - the subsequent lob-cross was that - but that’s harsh on United.
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GOAL! Manchester United 1-1 Middlesbrough (Crooks 64)
Jones crosses deep from the right. Watmore, in acres, traps. The ball rears up and hits his left arm. He lobs over Henderson anyway. The ball’s heading wide. Crooks slides in at the far post and forces home with his shin. VAR takes a look, and the goal’s given!
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63 min: Some huge breaking news from Gayfield Park! “It’s 1-0 Arbroath!” cries Simon McMahon. “15 minutes to go. The romance of the Scottish Championship.” Arbroath, it’s fair to say, are smoking right now.
62 min: Watmore comes on for the quiet Balogun.
61 min: Shaw curls in from the left. Ronaldo rises highest, but can only eyebrow weakly over the bar. He then remonstrates with Fernandes, who was right next to him and presumably getting in the road.
60 min: “Presumably the half-time famine at Old Trafford prompted a belting chorus of Who Ate All The Pies?” wonders Justin Kavanagh. “For once a legitimate question. And did the Glazers blush back in Florida, I wonder.”
58 min: United half clear Tavernier’s corner. Jones and Balogun come back at the hosts down the right. The latter’s shot-cum-cross is deflected towards the top right, but without the sort of pace required to fox Henderson, who catches calmly. For all United’s dominance and carving out chances, Boro have had a couple of opportunities to equalise. The hosts really do need that second.
57 min: Jones makes good down the inside-right channel and cuts back for Crooks, who sends a powerful sidefoot towards the top right. Henderson, who has had nothing whatsoever to do until now, sticks out a strong arm to tip over the bar. That’s a fine effort with a save to match. Here comes Boro’s first corner of the game.
56 min: Sancho slips a pass down the inside-left channel to release Ronaldo into the box. Lumley comes out and spreads himself. Ronaldo tries to round him on the left, overruns it, then clanks a backheel off his standing leg and out for a goal kick. United want that second.
55 min: Rashford does much better here, gliding down the right and reaching the byline before cutting back for Ronaldo, who whips a fine first-time effort inches wide of the right-hand post and into the side netting.
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54 min: Sancho brushes off a couple of challenges down the left, and curls in beautifully to tee up Rashford on the penalty spot. Rashford shanks high and wide. What a miss.
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53 min: McTominay loses possession cheaply in the centre circle, allowing Boro to break. A long ball down the middle nearly releases Sporar, but last man Shaw holds firm.
51 min: Crooks rolls a hospital ball back to Lumley. Ronaldo nearly gets there first, but ends up whacking the keeper instead. Perhaps slightly fortunate not to go into the book - he certainly walks off looking a little sheepish - but then superstars always get a free hit.
49 min: Dalot kicks the ball up against his own arm. No free kick. The 9,000 travelling Boro fans make their feelings known via the medium of pantomime jeer.
47 min: Action at both ends, Dalot hacking Jones’s right-wing cross clear in a frantic fashion, Lumley racing out of his box to deny Ronaldo. A fair chance this won’t end 1-0.
46 min: Shaw tries to release Fernandes down the left with one of those long passes from full back that are becoming something of a feature under Rangnick. Fry is over quickly to intercept.
United keep Boro waiting. When they finally turn up, they get the second half underway.
Half-time pint and pie. Cut out and enjoy, courtesy of the Guardian. 75,000 hungry and thirsty Old Trafford punters can’t be wrong!
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HALF TIME: Manchester United 1-0 Middlesbrough
The scoreline flatters Boro. They’ll need to change a few things if they’re to have any chance of staying in the cup.
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45 min: The 75,000 paying punters in Old Trafford are informed over the PA that there will be no food or booze on sale at half-time, due to some technical balls-up or another. A new fuse for the Baby Belling, please, Joel! Thrupenny bit for the meter, please, Avram!
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44 min: Some space for Sporar down the left. He’s got options in the middle, but carelessly shows too much of the ball to Dalot, and then whacks it out for a goal kick in a panic.
42 min: Pogba is booked after extending a leg to clip the in-flight Tavernier’s heel.
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40 min: Pogba, working hard in a tight spot out on the right, earns #120. The 121st follows immediately after, Rashford’s drive from the edge of the box deflected over the bar. Rashford has another go from that one, warming the hands of Lumley, who nevertheless claims well. So that’s now 121 corners this season without net-bothering success, but United are getting closer and closer.
39 min: ... and that’s a grand total of 119 that have failed to lead to a goal.
38 min: McTominay grooves down the right and cuts back towards Sancho, a pass that earns United another corner. Here comes #119 of the season!
36 min: Boro string a few passes together for the first time in a while. Welcome respite for the Championship side.
34 min: ... and then Boro nearly equalise, Balogun probing down the inside-left channel, cutting inside and curling powerfully towards the top right. The shot rises over the bar, but not by a huge distance. A reminder that Boro are still very much in this, despite the overall balance of play.
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33 min: Fernandes strides gracefully down the middle and slips a ball to Ronaldo on his left. Ronaldo romps into the box and bashes a shot straight at Lumley. United will wonder how it’s only 1-0.
32 min: Fernandes certainly looks to have found form again after an uncharacteristically quiet start to the season. United are purring at the moment.
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30 min: Fernandes clips a cute pass down the middle for Rashford, free on the edge of the D. Rashford larrups a shot straight at Lumley. Scrub that: straight through Lumley. The embarrassed keeper is extremely grateful to see the flag go up, correctly, for offside.
29 min: Fernandes, in the left-back position, chips up the wing and one-twos with Shaw, then bursts into acres of space. He rolls a pass down the wing for Ronaldo, who reaches the edge of the box before lashing a shot across the face of goal and out for a goal kick. A lovely flowing move by United.
27 min: There was an element of fortune to that goal, though. Sancho’s shot, from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, took a big nick off Jones. It may well end up going down as an own goal, because it’s not 100 percent clear that the initial strike was going in of its own accord.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Middlesbrough (Sancho 25)
Fernandes picks up a loose ball in the centre circle and sprays a pass down the left to release Sancho, who strides into the box and takes a whack across Lumley and into the bottom right. That had been coming.
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23 min: Dalot creams a long pass down the middle for Fernandes, who looks miles off but is being played onside by the deep-sitting Taylor. He’s all alone in the box, and opts to hit a first-time volley. He leans back and sends it whistling over the bar. I suspect he thought he was miles off, so went for the spectacular just because. I’m pretty sure the goal would have stood had he brought it down and took more care.
22 min: Anyway, never mind that. What’s going on between Arbroath and Killie in the Scottish second tier? Here’s Simon McMahon: “Gotta love the FA Cup, but the top two in the Scottish Championship are currently battling it out too in front of the TV cameras at Gayfield. Kilmarnock, relegated last year and with new manager Derek McInnes recently taking charge, started the game a point behind leaders Arbroath, the part timers led by Dick Campbell, a man who makes Antonio Conte look like Roy Hodgson. If Arbroath were to be promoted to the SPL, it would be a story to rival anything the FA Cup has produced in its illustrious history. Currently 0-0 after half an hour.”
20 min: Ronaldo misses the target altogether! He drags an awful effort wide left. Lumley may well have saved it had it been on target, too. He looks down at the spot, but he can’t be blaming the turf for that. The Boro fans enjoyed that very much.
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Penalty for United
19 min: Shaw rolls a pass down the inside-left channel for Pogba, clear just inside the box. Dijksteel, behind him and out of position, slips and brings Pogba down in doing so. The referee points to the spot.
17 min: Dijksteel’s loose header backwards leads to Manchester United’s first corner of the match. From that, Maguire clanks a pretty ordinary header harmlessly over the bar, and it’s now 118 corners this season without a goal for United.
15 min: Boro are knocking it around confidently enough. It’s a nice open game, and they’re playing their part after that slapstick start.
13 min: McTominay is checked in the no-nonsense style by Crooks, who accidentally catches the United midfielder under the chin with his elbow as he turns. The referee plays an advantage that doesn’t materialise. No booking, either.
11 min: From the right-hand side of the Boro D, Ronaldo flicks the ball into the air and volleys an effort towards the top left. The resulting floater is easy for Lumley. That sort of thing is harder than Matthew Le Tissier made it look.
10 min: Another free kick for Boro in United territory. Howson wedges it down the inside-right channel, Sporar nearly bursting between Shaw and Fernandes. The United pair’s pincer movement proves good enough to deny Sporar the chance of meeting the dropping ball ... but only just. A decent start for Boro, despite that early nonsense between Lumley and Fry.
9 min: A free kick for Boro out on the right is swung in by Howson. Crooks rises highest in a crowded box, but fails to win the header nonetheless, and barges into Varane while doing so. Foul.
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8 min: A reminder that Chris Wilder won on his last visit to Old Trafford. His Sheffield United side won 2-1 in January 2021 thanks to goals from Kean Bryan and Oliver Burke.
6 min: A magnificent Friday-night-pints atmosphere at Old Trafford. Both sets of fans are giving it plenty. They’re up for the cup. Shaw dribbles down the left and cuts back for Ronaldo, who with his back to goal, tries to send a bicycle kick into the top left. The ball softly sails into the arms of Lumley.
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4 min: Now it’s Dalot’s turn to play a long pass from the full back position. He sends the ball down the inside-right position, nearly releasing Rashford. Lumley claims without drama this time.
2 min: Shaw lumps forward. Lumley comes to the edge of his box to collect, but Fry gets in his way. The pair confuse each other, the ball breaking to Sancho, who floats a chip over the out-of-position keeper and off the bar! The ball rebounds to Fernandes, who sends his first-time effort to poke home over the bar.
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Boro get the first fifth-round tie of the weekend underway ... but only after United take the knee. There’s no room for racism.
The teams are out! Manchester United wear their famous red shirts, so Boro are forced into second-choice bottle green. As this is the Old Trafford fixture closest to the 64th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, United also sport black armbands in memory of the Busby Babes. Rangnick and Wilder both lay wreathes. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
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Boro manager Chris Wilder talks to Independent Television. “We’ve brought 9,000 travelling supporters, sold out in 24 hours, they’re looking forward to it and we don’t want the evening to pass us by. We want to be competitive and make it a dangerous night for Manchester United. We can only do that if our attitude and play is really good. They’re going to have the majority of the ball, we understand that, but when we have a chance to play, we’ve got to be progressive and try to hurt them. We have some talented boys as well.”
United interim boss Ralf Rangnick speaks to ITV. “Paul Pogba is ready, else he wouldn’t be in the starting XI. He needs game time, as often as possible, he has been out for more than two months. But he has been training well, so that’s why I decided to play him today. Jadon Sancho has been training well and I hope he can produce a similar performance on the pitch. I know him since he was 17, when I was sporting director at Leipzig, I was trying to convince him to join, together with Ralph Hasenhuttl. We hope to get him into his best possible shape.”
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Roy Keane is on punditry duty for ITV tonight, and it’s not long before he’s asked about the rumours linking him to the vacant Sunderland job. “I’ve got no control over that, so no comment,” he dryly quips, a flicker of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. “The club has to want you, you have to want to go to that club, and the contract has to be right. So we’ll see how things take shape over the next few days.” A full smile now, plus a twinkle in the eye. Make of that what you will.
Manchester United make five changes to the side that beat West Ham United 1-0 a fortnight ago. Dean Henderson takes the place of David de Gea in goal. Paul Pogba returns from injury while Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Jadon Sancho also step up; they replace Fred, Anthony Elanga, Alex Telles and the indefinitely suspended Mason Greenwood. The 19-year-old Tunisia midfielder Hannibal Mejbri is named among the substitutes.
Middlesbrough make one change to the team sent out to beat Coventry City 1-0 in the Championship last weekend. Folarin Balogun, on loan from Arsenal, comes in for Aaron Connolly up front, in a team that also includes former United defender Paddy McNair.
The teams
Manchester United: Henderson, Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Pogba, Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Sancho, Ronaldo.
Subs: Jones, Mata, Grant, Fred, Heaton, Wan-Bissaka, Matic, Elanga, Mejbri.
Middlesbrough: Lumley, Anfernee Dijksteel, Fry, McNair, Jones, Crooks, Howson, Tavernier, Taylor, Sporar, Balogun.
Subs: Hall, Payero, Peltier, Wood-Gordon, Watmore, Bamba, Connolly, Coburn, Boyd-Munce.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
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Preamble
The international break is over, and now we’re up for the cup! The fourth round starts here, as 12-time winners Manchester United of the Premier League host 1997 runners-up Middlesbrough from the Championship. The hosts start as hot favourites, then, whatever side Ralf Rangnick opts to put out ... but then United were expected to see off Boro in the League Cup the last time these clubs met in knockout football in 2015, and ended up losing 3-1 on penalties. Also, it’s the FA Cup, so you never know. Kick off is at 8pm GMT, and there will be extra time and penalties if necessary. It’s on!
