Boro and Sheff Utd force replay after Cup stalemate
Mark Schwarzer kept the Blades at bay with a string of saves
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Sunday, 17, Feb 2008 04:11
Middlesbrough were held to a 0-0 draw by Sheffield United in the FA Cup fifth round at Bramall Lane.
In Kevin Blackwell's first game as Blades boss, James Beattie struck the post with a free-kick in the first-half while Boro's Mido was denied on numerous occasions by Paddy Kenny.
Michael Tonge, Jon Stead and Billy Sharp all started for the Championship side, while Boro boss Gareth Southgate chose Jeremie Aliadiere and Mido up-front with record signing Afonso Alves on the bench.
The home side made an encouraging start with Matt Kilgallon's hooked shot from the left parried by Mark Schwarzer with Lee Martin just missing the rebound on five minutes.
Boro's best chance early on fell to Mido, with the Egyptian striker forcing Kenny into a smart save after a fizzing shot from the edge of the box on 15 minutes.
Mido then wasted a glorious chance to break the deadlock 11 minutes later when bearing down on goal, with his pass to Gary O'Neill going out for a goal-kick.
Two minutes later, the Blades were guilty of missing a gilt-edge chance of their own, when Jon Stead put his header wide following a corner.
Boro's David Wheater was lucky to stay on the pitch when he was only given a booking for hauling down Billy Sharp on the edge of the box two minutes from the break.
The Blades' best chance came in stoppage time at the end of the first half, thanks to a cheeky free-kick, with Beattie and Tonge pretending to bump into each other before Beattie struck his shot against the post.
United continued to carve out decent chances in the second half with Stead's shot from the edge of the box saved by Schwarzer, while Kilgallon sent his header into the side-netting from Martin's free-kick.
The Teesiders woke up and came agonisingly close to taking the lead with Mido's bicycle kick from the edge of the box tipped over the bar by Kenny, while Stewart Downing struck a volley inches wide from Mido's cross minutes later.
Both sides then made changes with the visitors bringing on George Boateng for Julio Arca while the Blades replaced Martin with Chris Armstrong.
Boateng was lucky not to concede a penalty when he hit a clearance against his own hand but the referee waved play on, while Emanuel Pogatetz's header was blocked on the line by Gary Naysmith in stoppage time.
But the substitutions failed to galvanise either side as the game petered out, to force a replay at the Riverside Stadium for the chance to reach the Cup quarter-finals.