Manchester City v Middlesbrough FA Cup 3rd Round 1971/72

CITY 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1 . FA Cup 3rd Round . 15th January 1972 . attendance 42,620 . scorers City Lee(86 pen) Middlesbrough Mills(42) . ref Dennis Corbett

City Corrigan, Book, Donachie, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Summerbee, Bell, Davies, Lee, Towers sub – Hill (unused) . Middlesbrough Platt, Craggs, Jones, Maddren, Boam, Gates, Stiles, McMordie, Mills, Hickton, Downing – sub Laidlaw

FROM THE PRESS BOX

Peter Gardner writing for The Manchester Evening News 17th January 1972 Manchester City's replay chances were wrapped up neatly by club skipper Tony Book when he told me "We'll win at Ayresome because at present our away form is far more convincing than it is at Maine Road". But the FA Cup tie that almost provided the surprise result of the third round is not as clear cut as that. Book is right to a point, but there is a fortune waiting for the man who can fathom the form of a side that wins at Arsenal, West Ham and Stoke in such a brilliant manner, yet trips with an almighty bump at home against the Notts Forests, Leicesters and Middlesbroughs. The Francis Lee penalty four minutes from the end saved City in a match Boro could have won by three or four goals had they taken their chances. It is all very well saying City can never play as badly as this again. That argument holds little water, and who is to say Boro cannot lift their game even higher on home territory. That could be the reason team manager Malcolm Allison locked himself away for 90 minutes after a 1-1 draw that exposed outstanding City failings. To win at Ayresome Park tomorrow City must first come down from the clouds of a match they thought they had a devine right to win. The effort in attack at times looked good, but only Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee carried real conviction. There must also be a slowing down of the frantic pace plus more skill and invention in the middle. Too often City have started with a helter skelter sprint and lost heart when the quick goal did not come their way. And that's where the North Easterners scored on Saturday. They kept running and working in a match City might well forget, Forget too, Nobby Stiles. Apart from his superb pass that enabled John Hickton to make the cross for David Mills' 42nd minute goal. The fiery former Manchester United favourite became more of a psychological weapon. City often forgot the game in favour of attempting to deal with Stiles. They must cut it out tomorrow, or again pay the penalty. I take City to win the replay, if they add skill to a higher work rate and keep their cool in what will be an electrifying match.