Middlesbrough 2 Manchester Utd 2:English FA Cup replays are meant to clog the arteries but, all things considered, Manchester United left Teesside in good heart on Saturday night. Alex Ferguson's team may have just witnessed the final outing from Henrik Larsson and been grateful to a harsh-but-fair refereeing decision for Cristiano Ronaldo's equalising penalty-kick, but United's sudden injury-list may not be as serious as first thought. Besides, any team would take a replay over a defeat, especially with a potential treble on the table.
The undoubted anticipation of walking out at the new Wembley would surely excite Ferguson, but there was another reason for the Scot to be cheerful as he left the Riverside. As he calculates the need for a further 18-21 points to win a first Premiership in four years, the Middlesbrough replay next Monday means Paul Scholes will return from suspension one match earlier in the league.
Scholes can now play against Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford on the last day of the month. Due to the two Boro cup fixtures, he will only miss one Premiership game - Saturday's home clash with Bolton Wanderers.
That came on top of Friday's news from Ferguson that the injuries to strikers Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were not as bad as feared and they, too, will be ready for Blackburn.
Their return will offset Larsson's, to Helsingborg, and there will not be an over-reliance on Alan Smith, who is without a Premiership start for 13 months, during a busy run-in.
Here, as against Lille, Ferguson had three men deployed behind Larsson, whose sheer work-rate led to him occupying the entire home back four in the first half.
Tactically United were one up, and it was a pass from Ryan Giggs that fed Wayne Rooney to open the scoring on 23 minutes, though overall Rooney was again a subdued presence.
But this is a growing Boro side. Despite United's dominance, Stewart Downing and Yakubu Ayegbeni forced Tomasz Kuszczak into two fine saves.
Giggs struck a post in the 37th minute but the excellent Julio Arca won a brave header just before half-time after Kuszczak had spilled a Downing cross. Lee Cattermole controlled Arca's header, then speared a volley into the top corner.
Less than two minutes after the interval the Riverside roared again, George Boateng peeling away unmarked at a corner to head home Boro's second. United's treble was slowly shrinking to a double but then came Giggs's 68th-minute corner, Rio Ferdinand's headed flick and Boateng's raised arms. Rob Styles's whistle blew instantly and while Boateng's action was accidental, you could understand Styles's.
Ronaldo drilled the spot-kick past Mark Schwarzer. There was still time for Stuart Parnaby to worry Kuszczak with a snap-shot and for Middlesbrough to reinforce the opinion that they could yet provide one of the highest hurdles for United - Boro also go to Old Trafford in the league.
"They had the momentum to come back and make it really hard," said Michael Carrick. "But the spirit here is unbelievable. You don't become a great team by playing pretty football and winning well every week. You have to grind out results and show character."
It was a faint echo of a line from Ferguson's autobiography: "Tactics are important but they don't win football matches. Men win football matches." It was a passage about the 1999 treble, which included a 33-game unbeaten run that started after a defeat by Boro at Old Trafford.
Guardian Service
