Blades and Boro in stalemate

After disposing of Bolton and Manchester City in previous rounds, Blackwell and United still have a second chance to reach the quarter-finals - and will at least be in the hat for Monday's draw.

But if they are to reach the sixth round they will have to win the replay at the Riverside on February 26.

The Blades were the more positive of the two sides before the break, and were perhaps unfortunate not to have taken the lead in an opening 45 minutes they chiefly controlled.

As early as the fifth minute the fingers of Mark Schwarzer were warmed by a stinging left-foot half-volley from Matt Kilgallon which just eluded Billy Sharp and Lee Martin on the rebound.

Moments later United should then have had a penalty when a Sharp drive struck the arm of Fabio Rochemback inside the area - but referee Chris Foy was unmoved, perhaps unsighted and when Martin swung in a dangerous corner Jon Stead headed wastefully wide at the near post.

Then, with the last kick of the first half, James Beattie struck the post with a 22-yard free-kick, despite a mix-up with Michael Tonge.

The visitors finally came to life just before the hour and in the space of 60 seconds Paddy Kenny pulled off two fingertip reaction saves, initially denying Mido with an overhead free-kick from the edge of the area.

From the ensuing corner, David Wheater conjured a bullet header which had Kenny reacting smartly to again push the ball over his own crossbar. Stewart Downing was then inches away with a fierce 15-yard left-foot volley as he seized upon a chipped cross from Mido.

Afonso Alves came on in the 75th-minute for Mido, but it was Emanuel Pogatetz who should have won it for the visitors when his close-range header from a Downing corner in the second minute of added time was blocked by Chris Morgan.