Boro 1 – 0 West Brom

Middlesbrough West Brom
Ayala 90′ +1  
Possession
Shots
On target
Corners
Fouls
38%
18
4
10
12
Possession
Shots
On target
Corners
Fouls
52%
13
2
4
11

Dan dare deflates Baggies

Redcar Red reports on the stoppage time victory over West Brom…

Tonight’s televised clash saw TP come up against his former employers for the first time since departing the Hawthorns. There was plenty of media interest for a change and a lot of hype about how Darren Moore has changed the Footballing philosophy since Pulis and then Pardew departed West Bromwich. Presumably that means no more “Pulis style” of football, the style that kept clubs in the Premiership as long as he remained with them. I understand the feelings of long suffering Football Fans and that hearts do inevitably rule minds which is why eventually even “successful” Managers try the patience of those who are emotionally invested in their clubs and endurance rather than enjoyment tips the emotions.

West Brom like Bristol last weekend have been a bogey team of late for Boro. We hadn’t beaten them in our last eight games, since 2006 in fact and some of those defeats were comprehensive. The last one living long in the memory being on the receiving end of a Di Matteo inspired 5-0 thrashing against a castrated Gareth Southgate Championship side. To put things into context Caleb Folan made his debut for Boro in that game for Hardlyeverthere who went off injured.

WBA arrived tonight as the Championship’s top scorers with thirteen goals in the Goals For column due largely to an unprofessional second half implosion from our erstwhile boss’s QPR which severely skewed the figures and perhaps would lead to an over inflation of Baggie confidence. Of perhaps greater significance was that only Norwich, Rotherham, Stoke and of course QPR had conceded more goals than the Baggies as they enjoyed their more expansive, open and entertaining brand of Darren Moore football.

Boro had the lowest Goals Against stat in the Championship prior to tonight with only those two opening day Millwall goals blighting our copybook. Could the visitors breach the Championships tightest backline or could Boro take advantage of the Throstles seemingly soft underbelly? Robson Kanu was a doubt for Moore whilst TP had no fresh injury concerns and indeed it was even mooted that both Ayala and Hugill could be in contention for Boro along with the returning Besic. Prior to Kick Off most had presumed that neither side would be changed or tweaked and those that had routed QPR and had broken Bristol last weekend would remain in-situ.

When the teams were announced Ayala surprisingly was starting at the expense of Lewis Wing with TP reverting to three at the back again and with Shotton and Friend acting as wide men come five at the back. Kanu was fit enough for the bench for West Brom with both Besic and Hugill there for Boro. The return of Ayala was very tough on Wing but we now know that Lewis can perform and hold his own at this level although seeing Besic sat alongside him will have reinforced how difficult it will be for a start going forward.

The Baggies started well, keeping the ball and moving it around, slick and accurate and with more precision than we are used to seeing in the Championship. You could tell that most of these Players had been playing Premiership football not so long ago and oozed confidence and belief. An early attack saw George Friend drop into the three at the back instead of keeping wide with Downing screaming at him to close down the Leicester loanee Harvey Barnes to prevent a cross into the danger zone. In fairness to George there were three versus two but nobody picked up Barnes. Apart from that hiccup Boro started to settle down afterwards with Dael Fry in particular looking very assured, cleaning up and heading balls away with authority. Braithwaite had Boro’s opening attempt but his shot was well below recent standards and didn’t trouble Johnstone in the Baggies net for his first Riverside return since the Villa Play Off.

Livermore was guilty of a few strong challenges but Ref John Brooks seemed reluctant to get his cards out so early in the game. Boro were holding their own as West Brom continued to dominate possession then after ten minutes or so Boro finally found a few opening to relieve pressure and to let West Brom know this wasn’t QPR they were facing and had a game on their hands. Once the Baggies visibly wobbled Boro’s confidence surged with a series of chances and opportunities that had the visitors defending doggedly and literally hanging on. Boro could quite easily have put two or three chances away but always seemed to take a touch too much or a block came in to clear last minute.

Jonny Howson set up Friend who put a cross in which Howson himself met with a header which deflected off battling Britt Assombalonga. The only real threat to Darren Randolph in the first half came from a sliced Flint clearance that hit off the underside of the crossbar but fortunately was cleared. Other than that Boro were content to let West Brom pass the ball around and pick them off. Defensively we just didn’t look like conceding despite Aden’s horrific moment.

From the North Stand a George Friend cross on the by-line seemed to be clearly handled by Adarabioyo inside the box. TV replays may prove differently but it looked a nailed on penalty not that we were biased of course but any 50/50 decisions did seem to be going against us and when we were awarded a free kick a round of ironic jeers broke out. Flint had been manhandled by Bartley from a corner but nothing was given. Britt was being bustled and pulled with nothing given but as soon as Britt gave as good back the whistle seemingly went immediately. The injustice wasn’t exactly palpable but it was annoying.

Another Howson effort failed to break the deadlock then a Downing shot from range had Johnstone tested to the full. Downing and Howson were excellent and were the drive behind Boro with Shotton and Friend providing width. Clayts was constantly hustling and breaking things up, really grafting.

The early misplaced belief that West Brom had carried over from QPR now seemed like a bad hangover as the first half whistle went much to Darren Moore’s relief.

Apart from the Flint moment which he recovered from, alongside Fry and Ayala (who had looked a little rusty) we were comfortable and solid. Chris Brunt was the only threat that the Throstles could muster but his long range efforts were more of a threat to the incoming KLM Amsterdam flight than to Darren Randolph. Unsurprisingly TP made no changes to an excellent Boro side at half time that had performed as asked and shown that we can compete with the best in the League. Boro had restricted them to Karanka style possession passing with no real threat despite Rodriguez and Gayle running and chasing, jockeying in front of the Boro defence but they couldn’t find the door let alone the key to it.

As the second half started battling Britt worked an opportunity on the Baggies right and managed to get the better of his marker by twisting and turning him, getting a cross in over and beyond Johnstone but Gibbs again just done enough to get under Shotton this time as he headed over after bursting a lung to get up and support. Shortly after with Boro again having the visitors pegged back they broke out and Boro hearts sank as Gayle ran free closing in on Randolph’s goal supported by Rodriguez. This was the moment we all dreaded, the moment we feared when we would pay the price for all the profligacy in front of goal in the first half and then was it a bird? Was it a Plane? No it was SuperClayts who had secreted a jet pack presumably under his shirt and blasted half the length of the pitch to get in a challenge he had no right to get even close to ensuring in the process Gayle fluffed his lines and with it West Brom’s only real opportunity of the evening.

With no goals it wasn’t a game for the neutrals although I’m sure, Leeds, Villa and Bolton fans were happy how it was panning out as fatigue started settling in. West Brom had found a little bit of a purple patch to match Johnstone’s Goalkeeping outfit as Barnes broke on the edge of the box requiring a half fit Ayala to shove him off the ball taking a yellow for his troubles. We withstood the free kick as we had all evening as the ball went out for a goal kick albeit suspiciously to me off a Red shirt.

The game was now very tired looking as the energy levels and intensity took its toll. Frustrations mounted and a challenge by Gayle in the middle of the park was judged to have been too hard although to be fair I saw it just as a strong but legal one. The complaining and mouthing to the Ref saw Gayle booked although I later understood it to be Rodriguez presumably for taking the dissension too far. The booking certainly angered Rodriguez as not long after he hit a 35 yard volley which had Randolph scrambling across his net to palm away. As glamourous as it looked the Irish Keeper saw it coming and positioned himself perfectly though hurriedly.

Howson was running himself into the ground and nearly set up Braithwaite who likewise was still testing and teasing. That was the moment that made Moore’s mind up as he brought on Dawson and Morrison for Adarabioyo and Barnes. I was surprised to see Barnes go off as he was the one that looked most likely to get past the Boro defence especially with Ayala already on a yellow.

Besic and Hugill had been warming up on a few occasions to appreciative applause for Besic to which he responded and for Hugill as a Tee, Tee, Teessider! TP was now readying changes of his own realising there were some tired limbs out there. Mo came on for Stewy who went off to a deserved standing ovation and “he’s one of our own” echoing round the Riverside. Besic almost immediately made a poor pass and nearly ruined his second coming but again our defence was imperious. The second half was more balanced than the first but again despite dominating possession West Brom were seemingly going nowhere whilst Jonny Howson was going everywhere.

Britt was next to be relieved of his duties and looked less than pleased, disappointed not to have grabbed a goal and now wouldn’t be but again he received a standing ovation and the Assombalonga song softened the impact as Jordan Hugill made his bow to Tee, Tee, Teessider once again. Both sides were starting to flag as it entered the last ten minutes looking to have accepted that a draw perhaps wasn’t a bad result after all. Desperately Chris Brunt once again hit one that was picked up by amateur ham radar trackers as Livermore had just ran out of ideas seconds earlier in the Boro box.

Paddy McNair then came on for Braithwaite who had ran himself into the ground all night. The plan seemed to be to just offer some height and a threat of sorts in supporting Hugill who was roughing them up and making sure wantaway Craig Dawson and his fellow defenders were kept occupied. Four minutes added time went up on the fourth Officials board as the game was drawing to a close. Besic gave away a dangerous free kick in front of the box and picked up a yellow as enthusiasm got the better of him and the minutes ticked down.

The Sky Camerman in front of the North Stand had packed his bags up, dismantled his camera and scarpered to get an early start down the A19. Then just as everyone else was thinking that a draw was probably a fair result a cleverly won free kick by Hugill provided a “Putopian” moment from Dani Ayala when he met Besic’s long, arched, floated in free kick to chest down (suspiciously assisted by a fortuitous right arm perhaps) to lash the ball into the far corner. One nil to the Boro with three minutes of added time left. EIO EIO EIO EIO EIO EIO EIO, repeat as many times as necessary!

An intense game finally broken by last season’s goal machine on his return and boy did he enjoy it. There were no poor performances in Red so picking the MOM was really difficult, Downing was instrumental all game, George had a great match as did Fry, Clayts was superb, Britt played probably his best game from a team perspective and Braithwaite was entertaining and unlucky not to get a brace but for his determined never say die spirit and running it has to be Howson for me although I feel that Clayts also put on a great show. Top of the league once more, at least until five o’clock Saturday afternoon depending on what the dirties manage at Norwich.

If you wish to leave a comment about Redcar Red’s match report please return to the Week 4 discussion page