Middlesbrough 0 Cardiff 2: Peter Whittingham and Roger Johnson wrote a new chapter in a remarkable FA Cup fairytale as Cardiff pulled off yet another astonishing giant-killing act at Middlesbrough.
The Welsh club, who face a trip to the High Court this week with their very existence under threat, dumped Premier League Boro out of the competition to book a semi-final trip to Wembley.
City, the only side to take the cup out of England — they did so in 1927 — will now eagerly await a draw which remarkably will include only one top-flight side, Portsmouth, following the demise yesterday of big guns Manchester United and Chelsea.
And the truth is, the Coca-Cola Championship side were full value for their victory as they took the game to Boro throughout.
They forced their way ahead through Peter Whittingham's sensational ninth-minute strike and were in dreamland when defender Roger Johnson headed home a second with just 22 minutes gone.
Thereafter, they not only defended superbly — Stewart Downing's 61st-minute free-kick, which flew inches over the bar, was as close as the home side came to dragging themselves back into the tie — but they might have won even more comfortably.
Dave Jones' side will head for Wembley knowing a good draw could give them a chance of returning for the final on May 17, while opposite number Gareth Southgate now faces a fight for Premier League survival.
The bulk of a crowd of 32,896 — or at least those who remained — made their feelings abundantly clear on the final whistle on a miserable day for the Teessiders.
