Red Devils' Route to Wembley

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Manchester United 3 Middlesbrough 1 - Third round, September 23, 2008
Despite Adam Johnson briefly putting Boro on terms after Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half header - and an horrific tackle on Rodrigo Possebon by Emanuel Pogatetz which saw the latter dismissed - United eventually cruised through thanks to late goals from Ryan Giggs and Nani.

Manchester United 1 QPR 0 - Fourth round, November 11, 2008
The nouveau-riche Londoners managed to stifle United for much of a gritty encounter until substitute Danny Welbeck was felled by Peter Ramage with 15 minutes left, allowing Carlos Tevez to strike the decisive penalty.

Manchester United 5 Blackburn 3 - Quarter-final, December 3, 2008
Argentina striker Tevez was again United's main man, scoring four times in a riveting match. Tevez and Nani put the hosts two up at Old Trafford by half-time before Benni McCarthy pulled one back, only for Tevez to complete his hat-trick, including one penalty. Goals by Matt Derbyshire and McCarthy gave Rovers hope before Tevez killed off the tie in injury time.

Derby 1 Manchester United 0 - Semi-final first leg, January 7, 2009
United were stunned by Derby who, buoyed by the arrival of Nigel Clough as boss, managed to secure a slim advantage to take to Old Trafford thanks to Kris Commons' brilliant 25-yard screamer after half an hour.

Manchester United 4 Derby 2 - Semi-final second leg, January 20, 2009
Goals from Nani, John O'Shea and Tevez appeared to have secured United's passage to Wembley by the break. A Giles Barnes penalty gave County some encouragement before Ronaldo also scored from the spot. Barnes struck again with a late free-kick but it was not enough to prevent Sir Alex Ferguson's side progressing 4-3 on aggregate.