REPLAY MAY HELP UNITED

The Guardian

FA Cup replays are meant to clog the arteries but, all things considered, Manchester United left Teesside in apparently good heart on Saturday night. Sir Alex Ferguson's team may have just witnessed the final participation of Henrik Larsson, and been grateful to a harsh-but-fair refereeing decision for Cristiano Ronaldo's equalising penalty-kick, but United's sudden burst of injuries 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 even infects the head of a supposed unromantic such as Ferguson, but there was another reason for the Scot to be cheerful as he left the Riverside. An extra fixture may be unwanted in the scheme of the season but as Ferguson calculates the need for a further 18-21 points to win a first Premiership in four years, the Middlesbrough replay next Monday means that 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. He will miss Saturday's home game with Bolton Wanderers but the two Boro fixtures mean that Sam Allardyce's side will be only 90 Premiership minutes without Scholes. That came on top of Friday's news from Ferguson that the injuries to the strikers Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were not as bad as feared and they, too, will be ready for Blackburn.

Tactically United were one up, emotionally their players were seizing the moment. Ryan Giggs was playing in the middle and the simplicity of his exquisite first touch poses complications for any opposition. It was a pass from Giggs that fed Wayne Rooney to open the scoring on 23 minutes, though overall Rooney was again a subdued presence. Fortunately for United Ronaldo was not.

But this is a growing Boro side. Southgate admitted to his defence's stand-offish behaviour, which facilitated United's early dominance, but even then 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 clumped away 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 butt in 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.

The Telegraph

Not even the flares from the refineries that frame the skyline around the Riverside Stadium were burning as fiercely as the resentment inside George Boateng.

This should have been a night for the Middlesbrough captain to remember. It was his head just after the interval that directed home Stewart Downing's corner to turn a game Manchester United had dominated with an almost forgotten fluency. However, it was also his gloved hands that, thrown up to protect his face, were struck to concede the penalty that salvaged a replay for the men in front of whom the ghostly vision of the Treble continues to glitter.

Many referees would have let the offence go, but Rob Styles was not among them and afterwards Boateng was a mixture of eloquent anger and defiance. "It would never have been given at Old Trafford in a million years," he argued. "If you go to Manchester a week on Monday and something similar happens, you can put your house on it that we will not get this decision.

''It is ball to hand. You, as a referee, as a spectator, have to ask yourself this question. Is he trying to handle the ball, is he trying to gain an advantage? Is the ball going to a dangerous area - your face - and are you trying to protect yourself? There is no intent. It is a natural reaction - I don't know if you've ever been hit in the face by a ball travelling at that speed from 10 yards, but you feel it.

For the second successive time in the FA Cup, Manchester United were forced into a replay and yet while the mood in the Reading dressing room had been buoyant, knowing they now had home advantage, Middlesbrough seemed downcast by the prospect of travelling to Old Trafford a week today.

It is to United's credit that they did not seriously attempt to bully or bribe Helsingborgs into extending his loan deal. Sir Alex Ferguson talked to Larsson and loyalty to his home town won out over the prospect of leaving Manchester with the kind of glory with which he said farewell to Barcelona.

When back by the shores of the Baltic he would take with him memories of the dressing-room banter and of Ferguson. "I always had a lot of respect for him but now, having been coached by him, his passion for the game is unbelievable. That's why he's been able to keep going as long as he has."

It would be easy to say that United were lucky; but this was not the grand larceny that had been seen at Fulham and Anfield. Had Ryan Giggs not been denied by the post in a first half United controlled with an easy grace, Middlesbrough might have been cast hopelessly adrift.

The Times

The success or otherwise of Manchester United's vibrant season may yet be defined by fixture congestion, a prospect that should bring a wry smile to Alan Smith's face. Too much football is scarcely a pressing concern for a player whose most recent league appearance was 13 months ago and whose career at Old Trafford has been idling at a crossroads for longer than he would care to admit.

The raucous sound of United supporters commemorating the conclusion of Henrik Larsson's fleeting spell at Old Trafford was also, in effect, a clarion call for Smith. With Larsson returning to Sweden and with Paul Scholes, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer unavailable for at least a further two matches, the 26-year-old appears to be a pivotal figure.

An exuberant 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough — whose quest to restore romance to the FA Cup has brought four replays, two of which have been decided by penalties — ensures that both clubs must play twice in three days this weekend. Aside from their home match against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, United must also contend with a charity match against a Europe XI tomorrow evening.

Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, who suffered minor injuries, will be rested, while Edwin van der Sar strained a calf during the warm-up at the Riverside Stadium and had a scan yesterday. Darren Fletcher and Mikaël Silvestre are long-term absentees and although Saha (hamstring), Solskjaer (knee) and Scholes (suspended), should return to face Blackburn Rovers on March 31, the concerns are obvious.

For Smith, regular football would feel as rewarding as any silverware. Bought from Leeds United for £7 million in 2004, he has been recast as a midfield player, retrained as a striker and broke a leg and dislocated an ankle in a Cup match against Liverpool in February 2006. He started Carling Cup ties against Crewe Alexandra and Southend United late last year and was subsequently linked with loan moves to Leeds and Cardiff City. He has scored only two goals in 27 months, but his mental fortitude has never been in question.

"Larsson has been brilliant throughout his career, but people shouldn't forget about Alan," Jonathan Woodgate, the Middlesbrough defender and a former teammate of Smith at Elland Road, said. "I'm sure United will bring him back into things and he's a fantastic striker as well.

"He's a mate of mine, so I know he's had to wait very patiently for his chance after coming back from such a bad break, but hopefully he'll play against us on Monday night [next week]. I'm sure the texts will be flying between us. People will say that United are weaker now that Larsson's left, but Alan can fill that hole and become a big, big player for them again."