Boro 2-0 West Ham United FT

FA Cup fifth round replay
Middlesbrough v West Ham United
Riverside Stadium
Wednesday 25 February
8.10pm
Referee: Steve Bennett

WHUTV - ACTION AND REACTION

Full time: Middlesbrough 2-0 West Ham United

90 min - The final whistle blows. Boro are through to a quarter-final at Everton on 8 March.

90 min - Upson blocks from Johnson.

90 min - Two minutes of added time are being played.

88 min - Josh Walker is coming on for Arca.

87 min - Johnson slides the ball across the box after another Boro break. Could have been 3-0 had someone been running in.

84min - Collison drills a cross across the box but no one can get on the end of it.

83 min - The visiting fans have been magnificent tonight. They have certainly made themselves heard among the 15,602 gathered at the Riverside.

81 min - Tuncay is coming off to be replaced by Adam Johnson.

80 min - O'Neil's corner is straight at Green. He gets the visitors going on another break.

79 min - Tuncay's shot is tipped around the post by Green after he had been set free by the surging run of Bates. Corner to Boro, which Cole heads behind.

78min -  Bates fires in from distance and Green has to palm the ball over the bar. From the corner, a free header for Huth but it is comfortable for Green.

77 min - Tristan breaks away from the halfway line and finds Cole, who earns a corner. Collison takes it and puts the ball straight into Jones' grateful grasp.

76 min - A half-chance for Di Michele but his shot is straight at Jones. It came after Emnes went close at the other end

73 min - It is a scrappy affair which suits the home side more. Neill does well with a right-wing cross to the near post but no one is close enough to challenge and it runs through to Jones.

70 min - Tomkins does well to recover after his initial slip allowed Emnes in on goal. Boro are still a major threat.

69 min - Diego Tristan is coming on for Kovac, the last throw of the dice for Zola.

68 min - Marvin Emnes is coming on for Aliadiere.

67 min - A fine stop from Green denies Aliadiere just as he was about to shoot. O'Neil then goes into the book for a foul on Behrami.

63 min - Behrami is booked for a foul on Downing. That is his fifth yellow card of the season. He will miss the Premier League trip to Wigan Athletic next Wednesday night.

62 min - Boro win a corner down the right. West Ham clear. The Hammers need a goal fast if they are to keep their cup dreams alive.

60 min - A good run by Parker is rewarded by Di MIchele's pass, but the England midfielder drives a low, left-foot shot just wide of the post. The visiting fans behind the goal were virtually sucking the ball towards the net, but it rolled agonisingly off-target.

59 min - Good positive play from Collison forces Hoyte into putting the ball behind. Collison takes the corner but Upson is unable to direct his header goalwards.

58 min - Neill crosses from the right but Di Michele cannot execute an acrobatic volley with his first touch. The ball instead bounces into the ground and is cleared.

57 min - David Di Michele has joined Collison on the touchline. It's going to be a double-switch, with Noble and Sears the pair to be replaced.

55 min - Jack Collison is pulling on a light blue shirt. Looks like he is about to make his entrance.

52 min - West Ham are initially awarded a corner but referee Bennett changes his mind and gives a goal-kick instead. Replays show it was the right decision by the man in black.

51 min - Parker has switched to a more central role and it pays almost immediate dividends as Pogatetz needlessly stabs the ball out for a corner. Boro clear and surge forward on the counter-attack, but Green is able to grab Downing's teasing cross out of the sky.

48 min - Boro come close to a third, but Tomkins does well to block Aliadiere's shot into the side-netting. O'Neil takes the resulting corner and Huth heads over from eight yards.

47 min - O'Neil crosses and the ball flies over Upson's head. Thankfully, Neill is on hand to chest the ball back to Green, despite the appeals of the home supporters.

46 min - It is 'Pigbag' time again as the two sides emerge for the second half. No changes for the Hammers, or Boro for that matter, and the home side get things under way again.

Half-time

45 min - The half-time whistle goes. Zola and Steve Clarke will have to work their magic during the break. Will they make any changes?

45 min - West Ham are going up their game after half-time if they are to win through to a sixth round tie at Everton. There will be two minutes of added-time.

44 min - Parker tries to send Sears through on goal, but Emanuel Pogatetz nips in to take the ball off the striker's toe.

42 min - Tuncay is flagged for offside as he races on to yet another O'Neil through ball.

40 min - Cole is back on but it is Boro who are doing the attacking. O'Neil launches a deep cross from the right, Downing lays the ball back but Tuncay launches his first-time shot into the visiting supporters.

38 min - More concern for Zola. Cole is down and receiving treatment inside the Boro penalty area.

37 min - Noble's corner is cleared to Parker on the edge of the penalty area. He takes a touch before letting fly with a left-foot volley, but the ball does not threaten Jones' goal.

36 min - Ten minutes or so to go until the break and West Ham are spending most of their time in the Boro half. Cole gets in behind and chips into the six-yard box, but Justin Hoyte nips in ahead of Kovac to head the ball behind.

34 min - A chance falls to Sears inside the box. Neill's cross is headed straight to the striker by Huth, but he drags his left foot shot well wide of the near post.

33 min - Another let-off for Zola's side. Downing crosses from the left. It eludes Ilunga's attempted clearance but Green is out just in time to smother the ball as O'Neil threatened to net a third.

32 min - Jack Collison, Savio and Jonathan Spector are waming up on the touchline.

30 min - O'Neil forces Ilunga into conceding a corner. Downing takes, Kovac heads clear and O'Neil drives his snap-shot well over from 20 yards.

28 min - Cole holds the ball up well from Tomkins' long pass forward. He finds Noble, who runs at the Boro defence, only for the move to end with Behrami slicing his shot well wide from 18 yards.

27 min - West Ham are seeing a bit more of the ball now, but they have yet to forge a clear-cut sight of Jones' goal.

25 min - Behrami forces a corner down the right after latching on to Kovac's chip. Noble takes, but it is too close to Jones and the Australian goalkeeper catches with ease.

23 min - Behrami plays a one-two with Noble, but his left foot shot is too high to trouble Jones.

22 min - A half-chance to halve the deficit falls to Kovac, but Brad Jones goes down well to his right to hold on to the Czech's shot following good work from Ilunga.

20 min - GOAL! Disaster for West Ham. A punt into the penalty area from Gary O'Neil is headed out by Tomkins, only to fall straight to Tuncay, who slots a first-time volley past Green from just outside the penalty area. This is going to be an uphill battle now for the Hammers.

19 min - Downing has scored two goals this season - both of them have come against the Hammers.

16 min - Upson gives the ball straight to Downing, but his England team-mate drives a low shot wide. That was a let-off for the visitors.

15 min - Boro break forward again and for a moment have a four-on-three against the Hammers defence. Thankfully, Downing pokes his shot across the face of goal and well wide.

12 min - Tuncay and Aliadiere combine well before the Frenchman curls a dangerous cross into the penalty area. Downing lays the ball back to Arca, but the Argentine can only curl a weak shot straight at Green from 20 yards.

11 min - Zola is out on the edge of his technical area to take a closer look at the game.

10 min - West Ham knock the ball around nicely in midfield before Mark Noble feeds Sears, but the forward is unable to get his cross in and the ball rolls out for a goal kick.

7 min - Sears does well to win the ball back down the right. Valon Behrami breaks free, but Huth comes across to belt the ball into the stand.

6 min - That was Boro's first home goal since Afonso Alves scored in a 1-1 Premier League draw with Sunderland on 10 January.

5 min - GOAL! Stewart Downing strolls up and curls an unstoppable free-kick in off the underside of Robert Green's crossbar with his left foot.

4 min - Kovac gives away a free-kick just over 25 yards from goal.

3 min - Upson is penalised for a foul on Tuncay on the right wing. Gary O'Neil's free-kick falls to former Hammer Jeremie Aliadiere, but Herita Ilunga blocks his shot.

2 min - A loose pass nearly lets in Sears, but Robert Huth nips in to clear. The away supporters are making a ridiculous amount of din. I know I'm going on about it, but this is like a home game for the Hammers, such is the noise level.

1 min - We're off! Scott Parker is lining up on the left of the diamond formation, with Kovac protecting the back-four.

West Ham United: Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker, Kovac, Noble, Sears, Cole
Subs: Lastuvka, Lopez, Spector, Collison, Savio, Di Michele, Tristan

Middlesbrough: Jones, Hoyte, Huth, Pogatetz, Wheater, Bates, O'Neil, Arca, Downing, Tuncay, Aliadiere
Subs: Turnbull, McMahon, Taylor, Johnson, Walker, Afonso Alves, Emnes

8.09pm - Matthew Upson and Robert Green acknowledge the travelling hordes before referee Mike Dean calls the two captains together.

8.07pm - Here come the two sides. Boro's anthem - 'Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag' - rings out over the PA system. What is a pigbag? Answers on a postcard to The Boleyn Ground...

8.05pm - The West Ham fans are making a proper din. Boro's home support in the North Stand reply, but they are drowned out by 'Live Forever' by Oasis. Middlesbrough's mascot Roary the Lion is on the pitch ready to welcome the two teams, who are in the tunnel.

8pm - There are 3,500 Hammers supporters inside the RIverside tonight. A big hats-off to all of them for making the long journey north on a cold Wednesday night. Well, actually, it isn't that cold, but well done to them all! The two teams have returned to their dressing rooms to make their final preparations. 'Step On' by the Happy Mondays is blasting out over the tannoy. Hopefully it will be a Happy Wednesday for West Ham.

7.55pm - Tomkins is going for an FA Cup hat-trick tonight. The central defender started the victories over Barnsley and Hartlepool United in the previous two rounds. Tomkins has played a total of three cup ties this season, including a League Cup quarter-final during his loan spell at Derby County, and has yet to concede a goal.

7.50pm - This will be Sears' sixth start of the season. The England Under-19 striker appeared as a substitute at nearby Hartlepool in the 2-0 fourth round success at Victoria Park.

7.40pm - Half an hour to go until kick-off and the West Ham United supporters are making a real racket in the South Stand. The remainder of the stadium is virtually deserted. Middlesbrough are expecting a crowd of around 20,000 for tonight's match.

7.25pm - The teams are in and Gianfranco Zola has made four changes from the weekend loss at Bolton Wanderers. Lucas Neill returns at right-back with Jonathan Spector dropping to the bench while James Tomkins is the expected replacement for the injured James Collins. Further forward sees Jack Collison and David Di Michele drop to the bench in place of debutant Radoslav Kovac and Freddie Sears respectively.