Middlesbrough - 2 Crystal Palace - 1: Mark Viduka and Steve McClaren are apparently not as close as they once were but the pair surely edged towards a rapprochement last night as the Australia striker scored one superlative goal and created the other to propel Middlesbrough into the quarter-finals.
If McClaren was delighted with both the application and artistry of a sometimes seemingly ambivalent Viduka, Boro's manager must have been dismayed by the banks of empty red seats on all sides of the stadium. Granted it was a bitterly cold night alongside the River Tees, but the locals remain strangely underwhelmed by a competition which Boro not only won as recently as 2004 but which offers their team a potential passage into Europe.
Nevertheless the 10,000-odd who did turn up may have been regretting their decision at the end of a first half dominated by Palace's Andrew Johnson. The 24-year-old made his first start in almost three months after recovering from an ankle injury which has damaged both his England ambitions and his manager Iain Dowie's promotion push and he did not take long to catch the eye.
Playing with real width and wit, Palace deservedly took the lead in the 31st minute, albeit courtesy of an own goal from Franck Queudrue who sliced Jobi McAnuff's cross beyond a horrified Schwarzer. The French left-back was confused by McAnuff's cross delivered with the outside of the winger's right boot which did not follow the trajectory Queudrue, who could not control it, had anticipated. Significantly, McAnuff - an increasingly influential figure on the left wing - had been released by Johnson's clever flick.
Psychologically, Boro's hopes can only have been enhanced by Dowie's decision to withdraw Johnson at the interval, replacing him with Clinton Morrison, and it did not take them long to equalise thanks to some quick thinking on Viduka's part.
Capitalising on Emmerson Boyce's rather slapdash throw, the Australian intercepted the ball, seizing possession before it could reach Mikele Leigertewood, Boyce's intended target. Making the very most of such generosity, Viduka then proceeded to advance and dispatch a curling 25-yard shot beyond Speroni and into the top corner.
Dowie's team had barely had time to draw breath, let alone regroup before they fell behind with Viduka again proving an integral figure in their downfall. This time he settled for the role of creator, slipping a pass to Szilard Nemeth who defied both a horribly tricky angle and Speroni to direct a beautifully weighted shot just inside the far post.
Guardian Service
MIDDLESBROUGH: Schwarzer, Parnaby, Ehiogu, Southgate, Queudrue, Junior Doriva, Boateng, Rochemback (Bates 78 mins), Nemeth (Pogatetz 57 mins), Viduka, Floyd Hasselbaink (Maccarone 62 mins). Subs not used: Jones, Yakubu. Goals: Viduka (52), Nemeth (55).
CRYSTAL PALACE: Speroni, Boyce, Hudson, Popovic, Borrowdale, Andrews, Leigertwood, Watson, McAnuff (Black 74 mins), Johnson (Morrison 45 mins), Macken (Freedman 75 mins). Subs not used: Kiraly, Ward. Goals: Queudrue (og 31).
Referee: H Webb
