A frustrating afternoon at Upton Park, as a lacklustre and strangely off the pace home side struggled in a cup-tie that they must have had good hope of winning on current form.

Herita Ilunga's late goal gave West Ham a draw that they will probably relish, as there was a definite suggestion in the air that Boro's messy goal on 22 minutes was going to prove enough to put the Teesiders through to the next round.

Middlesbrough exerted early pressure on the home side and both Adam Johnson and Stuart Downing went close with barely ten minutes on the clock. After that though, West Ham found their feet and begun pressurising Brad Jones in the Boro goal, the keeper making a couple of smart stops to keep out di Michele and Noble. With the crowd noise rising it looked as if a goal would shortly arrive and it duly did - but at the other end from the action.

Gary O'Neill curled in a cross that both Upson and Collins would normally have dealt with easily but Upson missed the flight and Collins allowed the ball to go through his legs making Downing's stooping header at the far post an easy nod-in. Downing immediately annoyed the home supporters by cupping his ear to the Bobby Moore stand and received an afternoon of abuse as a result. It would be nice to report the England winger suffered as a consequence but as often happens, Downing turned in a good performance and was probably Man of the Match.

Both sides had chances to score in the latter stages of the first half with Huth unable to direct a header before Collison shot over from a great angle after Jones had managed to palm away a Noble shot. However, before that, West Ham's chances took a serious blow when Carlton Cole was forced to limp off being replaced by Diego Tristan, the Spanish striker making little impact on the rest of the game.

Trailing at half time, Gianfranco Zola made his decision early in the second half replacing Boa Morte after three minutes and bringing on Freddie Sears. West Ham gradually began to assert more pressure, but still looked unable to breach the Boro defence. In fact, it was the visitors who looked more dangerous with Green needing to make several stops from Alves and Downing before the Hammers won a late free kick enabling substitute Savio to send over a cross that Ilunga gratefully headed home after Collins flicked on.

The home fans heaved a sigh of relief and, on current away form, may not fear an away trip to Smogland. Hopefully, the Hammers will find some of their spark for what could be an interesting replay.