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Cristiano Ronaldo missed a first-half penalty as Manchester United went crashing out of the FA Cup against Middlesbrough. The game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes but Boro held on to beat the Red Devils 8-7 in a penalty shootout.
Ralf Rangnick named an extremely strong side for the game as Cristiano Ronaldo lead the line on the night. Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford all started behind the Portuguese superstar. Paul Pogba made his long-awaited return to the team. The Frenchman last played in a Champions League group stage game against Atalanta back in November last year. Rafael Varane partnered Harry Maguire in defense, with Dean Henderson getting the nod over David De Gea in goal
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Manchester United started the game strongly as Sancho saw his chipped effort hit the crossbar after Joe Lumley's error in goal. The Red Devils took firm control of the game in the opening exchanges and all their pressure paid off in the 19th minute as Anfernee Dijksteel brought down Pogba in the box.
Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty but inexplicably pulled his effort wide of the post. However, United didn't take their foot off the gas pedal and saw their perseverance rewarded five minutes later as Sancho latched onto Fernandes' pass before juking the defender and scoring a lovely finish.
The Red Devils looked like they would kick on and double their lead in the first half but Boro did well to hold on until half-time. The second half started much the same as United looked to put the game to bed. However, Boro pegged Rangnick's side back in the 64th minute after a controversial goal. Duncan Watmore handled the ball in the build-up to the goal before seeing his effort bundled home by Matt Crooks at the far post.
However, the goal did not seem to deter United as they searched for an equalizer. Their opportunity to put the game to bed came in the 72nd minute as Fernandes had and empty net to put the ball into after taking advantage of another goalkeeping error by Lumley. However, the midfielder embarrassingly saw his effort strike the woodwork.
The rest of the game teetered on as both sides made substitutions in order to find a winner. However, neither side could create any significant chances as the game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes.
The two sides went into a penalty shootout to decide who would progress into the next round of the FA Cup. However, United youngster Anthony Elanga blasted his effort over the bar during sudden death to give Boro the win.
Cristiano Ronaldo could not inspire Manchester United to an FA Cup victory
Cristiano Ronaldo will be rueing his first-half penalty miss following Manchester United's elimination from the FA Cup. Nothing seemed to go right for the Portuguese superstar as he couldn't find the back of the net despite taking 10 shots on the night.
The forward has now failed to register a goal or an assist in his last four games for Manchester United. Ralf Rangnick will be hoping that Cristiano Ronaldo can return to his best soon as the Red Devils have important Premier League and Champions League games coming up later this month.
With that being said, here are the best Twitter reactions to Manchester United being eliminated from the FA Cup:
