The Red Devils were embarrassed at their Old Trafford by a brave Middlesbrough team in the FA Cup Fourth Round on Friday night. The visitors sensationally got back into the match, made it through the extra time and knocked out Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford and the rest of the United stars out of the world’s oldest football competition. It was United’s youngster Anthony Elanga who missed the only penalty of the long shoot-out to seal his team’s fate and end the misery.Manchester United have been in the news these days – and not because of footballing reasons. Mason Greenwood’s has been suspended after being accused of some terrible deeds, Jesse Lingard criticised the club’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick for not granting him a transfer away. In these circumstances, the Red Devils really needed a good performance and a win to put the beautiful game back in the focus.No way through: Folarin Balogun and Marcus Rashford (©AFP)And they started reasonably well against their second-tier opponents Middlesbrough. Managed by the former Sheffield United coach Chris Wilder, the Teessiders have improved lately and are quietly hoping of getting back into the Premier League after a five-year absence. But tonight, it was all about the Cup.A strong-looking United team dominated the proceedings as it was expected, with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba bossing the midfield. The latter won a penalty when defender Anfernee Dijksteel clumsily tumbled him over in the box. Cristiano Ronaldo took a deep breath, focused, stepped up – and fired it just wide. The away fans were celebrating as if they’d just seen their team score at Old Trafford!The touch by Sancho 😘 pic.twitter.com/JoTaihgLnp— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 4, 2022 But Jadon Sancho did put his team ahead. After he’d hit the crossbar early on, the former Borussia Dortmund winger ran onto a Bruno Fernandes’ pass and took a touch before firing past Joe Lumley via a slight deflection. It was a deserved lead.It was eventful even during the break. Just as fans left their seats and started queuing for refreshments and food, the public announcer informed them that “due to a technical fault, food and beverage won’t be available until the end of the match.” That prompted the home fans to start the familiar chants of ‘we want Glazers out’ against the club’s American owners.Boro were forced to defend as United kept shooting – but also missing the target. Arsenal youngster Florin Balogun, on loan at with the Championship side, tried to use his pace to get behind the home team’s defence, but there was no way past the defenders. But Balogun did initiate his team’s equalizer – by getting substituted.WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT 😱@mdrcrooks scores against the club he supports for @Boro! 💥#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/dgtNknW8c3— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) February 4, 2022 The man who replaced Balogun, Duncan Watmore, controlled the ball with his outstretched arm before dinking the ball over for Matt Crooks to fire into the empty net. The handball was apparent to thousands of people at Old Trafford – but not to the referee Anthony Taylor! VAR did not disallow the goal, much to the dismay of United players, staff and fans. But the decision brought much delight to the away supporters. Against the run of play and against all odds – Middlesbrough were level!The visitors fought bravely and pushed the favourites all the way to extra time.So close for @Boro 😱Denied by a big @deanhenderson save! 🚫#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/4rfHEtrcMC— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) February 4, 2022 The best chance of the extra time came for the visitors. Just like it’s happened over the regular 90 minutes, Manchester United had the ball, passed it around but were utterly harmless in the final third. Their crosses were either too weak or too strong, their key passes were non-existent, and they relied on Dean Henderson to save them from a fantastic late Boro attack.Cristiano Ronaldo went over to support Anthony Elanga after he missed his penalty ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XWtl02Jkvp— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 4, 2022 To the shoot-out, it went. And there, Boro showed nerves of steel and celebrated an unlikely victory that will be remembered for a long time.FA CUPFourth Round FridayManchester United – Middlesbrough 0-0 (1-0)/Sancho 25 – Crooks 64/Middlesbrough win 8-7 on penalties.Saturday15.30: (14.0) Kidderminster (6.75) West Ham (1.20)15.30: (1.10) Chelsea (11.0) Plymouth (19.0)18.00: (2.00) Stoke (3.40) Wigan (3.90)18.00: (1.70) Wolverhampton (3.70) Norwich (5.20)18.00: (1.15) Man.City (8.50) Fulham (15.0)18.00: (3.40) Peterborough (3.40) QPR (2.15)18.00: (1.58) Southampton (4.00) Coventry (6.00)18.00: (1.17) Crystal Palace (7.50) Hartlepool (16.0)18.00: (1.75) Huddersfield (3.50) Barnsley (5.10)18.00: (2.10) Everton (3.45) Brentford (3.50)20.30: (3.50) Cambridge (3.45) Luton (2.10)23.00: (1.95) Tottenham (3.40) Brighton (4.10)Sunday15.00: (1.15) Liverpool (7.75) Cardiff (18.0)19.00: (4.10) Nott.Forest (3.50) Leicester (1.92)21.30: (1.28) Bournemouth (5.50) Boreham Wood (11.0)***odds are subject of change
