Middlesbrough 2 Arsenal 1 Middlesbrough win 3-1 on aggregateMiddlesbrough reached their fourth cup final in seven seasons last night but whether Teesside will finally feel confident of landing a first trophy after 128 years of trying remains to be seen.

This was an unconvincing triumph that depended on Juninho's goal at Highbury a fortnight ago and a late own goal from Jose Antonio Reyes of all people.

Against 10 men for 45 minutes after Martin Keown was sent off for the 13th time in his career, Middlesbrough took the lead in the 69th minute through Boudewijn Zenden. That doubled their advantage which was quickly halved by Edu.

But Middlesbrough held on and Arsène Wenger will have to wait until 2005 for the only trophy in England to elude him. Certainly Arsenal played like a side to whom the League Cup mattered.

Arsenal made eight changes to the line-up that overcame Manchester City in the Premiership 48 hours previously but ominously for Middlesbrough these included the returning Patrick Vieira and a first start on English soil for Reyes. Regular first-teamers like Ashley Cole, Kolo Toure and Keown were also present: Arsenal were not here simply to fulfil a fixture.

The way Wenger's team started confirmed just that. Skilful and aggressive, Edu almost gave the visitors an eighth-minute lead with a fierce 25-yard drive. Of greater concern to Middlesbrough were Arsenal's apparent exclusive rights to the ball.

When Middlesbrough at last got their first real opening it was created by Cole's deflection. Sadly for Middlesbrough the ball ran from Cole invitingly into the path of Massimo Maccarone - the scorer of one goal since October - and he shot wide. Maccarone then offered a scissor-kick from four yards out and again missed.

But Middlesbrough could take comfort from being a force in the game for the first time. Territorially Arsenal were being confined to their last third, Vieira and Edu losing the easy grip they had in midfield.

Then came Keown's error, or more accurately, errors. The first came in misjudging Gaizka Mendieta's hopeful forward prompt as Keown somehow allowed the ball to hit his back. Once again Maccarone was the beneficiary and he was off past the centre-half.

Keown compounded that mistake by then pulling Maccarone back and as the last defender was immediately shown a red card by the referee Dermot Gallagher.

Arsenal felt no injustice at Keown's dismissal but were annoyed just after the restart when Reyes tumbled in the penalty area under a challenge from Mark Schwarzer.

Soon after it was Schwarzer's turn to be agile, chasing across his line to block a close-range volley from Toure. The 10 men were taking it to the 11.

But Arsenal could do that for only so long and as they tired Middlesbrough broke away. Maccarone played his part but it was Mendieta's instinctive class that sent Zenden past Pascal Cygan to supply a deft chip over Graham Stack.

That made it 2-0 on aggregate yet even then Arsenal continued to fight and Edu stabbed in a 77th minute header to ensure an anxious finale.

Afterwards, Middlesbrough captain Gareth Southgate said he was delighted to be giving chairman Steve Gibson a trip to Cardiff on February 29th. Southgate said: "It's fantastic for the fans and I'm delighted for the chairman, who has backed everyone here for years. Now we want to give them a good day out."

And Southgate added on Sky Sports: "Arsenal are a fantastic side - they never stop working or trying and have given us a pasting three times this season already.

"I know they didn't have a full side out tonight - but they still gave us a hell of a game."

MIDDLESBROUGH: Schwarzer, Mills, Southgate, Riggott, Queudrue, Greening (Parnaby 63), Mendieta, Doriva, Zenden, Maccarone (Job 70), Juninho Paulista. Subs Not Used: Jones, Ricketts, Downing. Goals: Zenden 69, Reyes 85 og.

ARSENAL: Stack, Toure, Keown, Cygan, Cole, Parlour, Vieira, Edu, Clichy (Owusu-Abeyie 81), Reyes, Bentley. Subs Not Used: Taylor, Hoyte, Skulason, Smith. Sent Off: Keown (45). Booked: Bentley. Goal: Edu 77.

Referee: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).

Striker Rowan Vine scored a hat-trick to give second division Colchester United a surprise 3-1 home victory over Coventry City of Division One in their FA Cup fourth round replay last night.

Colchester, whose best FA Cup run was reaching the sixth round in 1971, will travel to another first division club, Sheffield United, in the fifth round.

Coventry's disappointment was compounded by the late dismissal of Calum Davenport.