04/01/2003  Chelsea 1 Middlesbrough 0
 
Mario Stanic sent last year's runners-up safely through to 
the fourth round as a tame tie exploded into life when Chelsea 
goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini was controversially sent off after 
62 minutes.

Chelsea dominated the first half against away-from-home 
flops Middlesbrough and led by Stanic's well-taken goal after 
38 minutes.

But referee Mark Halsey and his assistant Paul Vosper added 
some good old FA Cup controversy to the game to set up an 
exciting final 25 minutes.

The talking point came after Franck Queudrue curled a free 
kick into the goalmouth and Dean Windass bundled Cudicini into 
the back of the net as the Italian caught the ball.

An ugly goalmouth melee ensued as players from both sides 
piled in, but order was eventually restored. Then, after 
consulting his assistant, the referee booked Windass and 
amazingly showed the red card to Cudicini for his retaliation, 
although television replays failed to spot exactly what Mr 
Vosper had seen from the right-hand touchline.

After a five minute delay in which Chelsea protested at the 
decision, Dutchman Ed De Goey came off the bench to take his 
place in goal, with Gudjohnsen being sacrificed.

Middlesbrough stepped up the pressure against the 10 men, 
but Steve McClaren's team came into this game on the back of 
eight successive defeats and having failed to score away from 
home in more than 11 hours of Premiership football.

Chelsea held on to their lead and although they failed to 
match the 2-0 scoreline by which they beat Boro in the 1997 FA 
Cup final, they did equal the result when the teams met at 
Stamford Bridge in the Premiership in November.

There was no clue of what was to come at the start of the 
afternoon when the main talking point was the fact that 
McClaren dropped strikers Massimo Maccarone and Alen 
Boksic.

Despite the freezing conditions the state of Chelsea's 
pitch - which is being relaid after next Saturday's game 
against Charlton - made the early stages resemble beach 
football with its unpredictable bounce.

The first decent chance fell to Chelsea after six minutes 
when Frank Lampard latched on to Jesper Gronkjaer's inside 
pass, but his shot was not a clean one and presented no 
problem for Boro goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

The home side won a corner a minute later and Jimmy Floyd 
Hasselbaink's cross from the left found Stanic unmarked on the 
six yard line, but he sent a downward header wide of the near 
post.

Gronkjaer was the brightest player on the pitch but was a 
little greedy at the end of a great run after 18 minutes. He 
cut in from the right and blasted the ball over the bar from a 
tight angle as his team-mates queued up in the box.

Two minutes later Gronkjaer was left holding his head in 
disbelief as another chance went begging. Gudjohnsen crossed 
from the left and the winger poked the ball past Schwarzer 
from six yards but also beyond the near post.

Gudjohnsen made good use of the ball as he held up play 
after 36 minutes before feeding a sweet pass into the path of 
William Gallas as he charged in from the right flank. But the 
French defender blasted a poor shot wide of the far post when 
he should at least have hit the target.

Chelsea finally scored the goal their domination had 
promised as Hasselbaink unselfishly teed-up Stanic on the left 
edge of the box and he beat Schwarzer with a low drive inside 
his near post.

The second half started with a similar pattern to the first 
and Chelsea were still in control until the game exploded in 
controversial fashion.

Boro stepped up the pressure but still failed to find a way 
on to the scoresheet. Chelsea were still dangerous on the 
break and substitute Boudewijn Zenden ended a great run down 
the left after 83 minutes with a low shot which was inches 
wide of the far post.

With three minutes remaining, De Goey came to the rescue 
with a fine save to deny Geremi, and Boro's ninth successive 
defeat meant an early exit from the competition in which they 
reached the semi-finals last season.