FABIO: CUP RUN CAN FIRE BORO
WHILe their relegation rivals have ducked out and made excuses, Middlesbrough remain, the only Premier League club outside the top six in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. Prolonged participation may yet come at a cost — they are two points above the drop zone — but that is not dampening the mood on Teesside. even Oxford United boss Michael Appleton — whose League One side were beaten despite recovering a two-goal deficit — saw fit to applaud the home fans before his own, such was the atmosphere at the Riverside. Boro’s fans, players and management are refusing to subscribe to the notion that the Cup is a distraction from their prospects of survival, even if it is exactly 20 years since they reached the final of both domestic cup competitions and were relegated from the Premier League.
Defender Fabio played for Manchester United for six years but never made it to the final of the FA Cup. And he, for one, is excited about their chances this season.
‘It is a big opportunity with the way the Cup is going with smaller teams making progress,’ said the Brazilian. ‘I have never played in an FA Cup final. I have been to a semi-final but we drew 0-0 against everton and got knocked out on penalties. So that’s obviously something I would really love to do.’
He added: ‘When I was at United we always took a lot from our cup runs. We always felt that doing well in the cups would help us with what we were trying to do in the league.
‘You always get confidence from winning, no matter what competition you are in. It can only give us more confidence for the Crystal Palace game (on Saturday).’
Boro’s 86th-minute winner came from substitute Cristhian Stuani after Oxford’s Chris Maguire and Toni Martinez had cancelled out first-half goals from Grant Leadbitter and Rudy Gestede.
For Scotland winger Maguire it was an eventful afternoon. He gave away the penalty which led to Leadbitter’s opener, saw a goal disallowed, scored a beautiful free-kick and laid on his side’s equaliser.
The 28-year- old said: ‘When we got the equaliser everyone in the whole stadium would have thought there is only going to be one outcome. We caved them in to their own box a bit and took the game to them. To lose it at the end was sickening.’