Big two face cup replays

Chelsea and Manchester United had to scrap to clinch replays they never wanted as the FA Cup quarter-finals threatened to throw up a major surprise.

The Blues trailed 3-1 to Tottenham at Stamford Bridge after Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Essien’s own goal and a Hossam Ghaly strike left the visitors seemingly in control.

However, Frank Lampard, who had earlier cancelled out Berbatov’s opener, struck again after the break to set the scene for substitute Salomon Kalou to claim a replay at White Hart Lane next Monday evening.

With United also back in action at Old Trafford after a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough 24 hours earlier, England boss Steve McClaren will see his squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Israel and Andorra – which is due to meet up on the same day – decimated.

Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Paul Robinson, Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing will all be missing as McClaren prepares for the most crucial few days of his reign to date.

That, however, will be of little concern to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho as he attempts to reach the semi-finals at the second attempt.

Mourinho, who denied calling referee Mike Riley a “son of a bitch” in Portuguese during an angry exchange, was relieved to escape with a draw.

He said: “We made some defensive mistakes, but the game was magnificent. The spirit was great and I think everybody in the stands enjoyed the game.

“We can be happy because at half-time – we were two goals down and out of the competition.

“But in the second half, against a good team, we had enough desire and belief.

“We survived and I will fight until the last moment to win it.”

United also had to come from behind to keep their bid for a second Treble alive.

The Red Devils led through Wayne Rooney’s 23rd-minute strike, his first goal in eight games, but were then punished for two defensive lapses in four minutes either side of the break.

First, Lee Cattermole span to smash home a 44th-minute equaliser, before Boro skipper George Boateng made the most of woeful marking to head home Stewart Downing’s 47th-minute corner.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo levelled from the penalty spot in the 68th minute after Boateng had handled to take Boro to a fourth successive replay in this year’s competition.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: “The name of the game is to keep winning. That is the best recipe and best energy-enhancer of all time: winning. We can handle that.

“They [Middlesbrough] are still in the cup too. It was one of the best performances for quite a while, for weeks. The rhythm was back, the speed was back and it was terrific to see that.”

There were mixed fortunes too for Blackburn’s Aaron Mokoena but, unlike Boateng, he ended his afternoon with a semi-final place to soothe his pain.

The South African was sent off for a second bookable offence 69 minutes into his side’s victory over Manchester City at Ewood Park, but it was his 28th-minute goal which separated the sides until Matt Derbyshire sealed a 2-0 win at the death.

Rovers boss Mark Hughes was delighted with his side’s application.

He said: “We deserve to be in the hat. We controlled the game, especially in the first half.

“We had to be strong as they threw a lot of balls into our box.

“But we also brave enough to push people forward and that is the reason we got the second goal.”

Also brave were Plymouth, who matched Watford all the way in the weekend’s last quarter-final.

Were it not for Hornets goalkeeper Ben Foster, they may well have avoided the 1-0 defeat suffered at Home Park.

Hameur Bouazza’s goal ensured the result was a repeat of that between the sides in the 1984 semi-final, the furthest the Pilgrims have ever gone in the competition.

Foster’s performance was not lost on either manager.

“Ben Foster underlined why I think he will be the world’s number-one goalkeeper,” said Watford boss Adrian Boothroyd, who has loaned the keeper from Manchester United.

“He’s ruined my dream with some great saves,” said Plymouth counterpart Ian Holloway.

“He’s cracked my heart.”