| Middlesbrough | Burton Albion | ||
| Hesketh | 48′ | ||
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
63% 8 3 7 11 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
37% 11 2 7 10 |
Pulis goes for a Burton
In the Quarter Final that time forgot Boro faced Burton Albion in what could fairly be adjudged as the Cinderella tie of the Round. With zero interest anywhere apart from a hardy five hundred braving the wild, wet and windy conditions travelling up the A1 from Burton and the hard core of Riverside regulars venturing out when those of us with more sense should have been sat in front of the glow of a warm fire. Thankfully come 7.45pm the rain and wind had subsided a little leaving a wet surface which would be ideal for a fast paced game, ideal for a footballing side wanting to zip the ball around but then it was TP’s Boro we had come to watch so never mind.
League One Burton had collected a few scalps to get here namely Villa, Forest and Premiership Burnley so the son of one of our most famous sons (James Cook aside) clearly had the ability to manage a shock or three. With due respect to Burton I wasn’t overly worried or concerned about who they had fit or who they would field despite supposedly having 4 or 5 first teamers out. That’s not to say I was being disrespectful it’s just that right here and right now at Boro our team selections of late have been a source of much confusion, including the fans. As it happened Clough junior only made two changes from the weekend.
Up until this point TP had largely used the Carabao Cup as a run out for his fringe players supplemented by a few reserves. Now with just one game away from a two legged semi-final against Premiership opponents and a less than convincing last few weeks in the Championship another selection gamble would either prove brave or foolhardy with spirits at the Riverside restless at best. In fairness TP had quite a few splinter gatherers with a point to prove so that could have worked in his favour but of course that depended on where he would actually tactically deploy them. In the end Pulis made six changes including a few of the peripheral players like Grant, Wingy and Braithwaite but kept several of his nailed on first teamers for this one including Randolph, Downing, Flint and Friend.
The early action saw Boro sit back with Burton working the flanks and getting balls into the box in what has been our trademark start for the Boro these days. I’m not sure if it was Burton’s intensity or Boro just doing that Pulis thing and waiting to go a goal behind before waking up. It took until six minutes for Boro to make their mark on the game and with it nearly took the lead against the run of play as a ball played in from Fry to Braithwaite and then fed teasingly in just in front of the six yard box should have saw Hugill slide in to score but he was a half second out in arriving with his big toe.
Hugill then had a header after a well placed cross was delivered this time from Downing but the looped header was just over the crossbar. Moments later a Wing strike called the Burton Keeper into action to concede a corner. Boro at this stage had now started to settle into the game and were dominating proceedings with Nigel Clough out on the edge of his technical area screaming at his defence to close Fry and Downing down far quicker (or judging by his gesticulations I assume that is what he was conveying). A cheap yellow was given to Hugill for a late sliding challenge on Quinn which was both unnecessary and annoying.
A break involving Braithwaite poked the ball through for Friend who crossed a looping high ball to Dael Fry on the opposite corner of the Burton six yard box but his header in towards Hugill was intercepted and headed clear. A soft free Kick to Burton on eighteen minutes when the Burton attacker seemed to skip into Brathwaite tripping himself was adjudged as a Braithwaite foul. The resultant free kick was played back to the edge of the Boro eighteen yard box but was charged down and cleared without troubling Randolph.
Around the half hour mark Burton had their first corner in the NW corner which was played short then launched, beat Flint but the header thankfully was a weak one at Randolph. Boro then had a Downing Free Kick which cleared the wall but was clawed away at Collins left hand upright in the Burton goal. The pace of the game was a little sedentary and had the atmosphere of a pre-season friendly which probably suited the visitors and their five hundred or so fans. There was a lot of recycling of the ball from Boro to take the sting out but as the home side against league one opposition it wasn’t convincing the home fans as there was little to no high tempo pressing or intent.
A rash sliding challenge from behind on Allen saw a cheap yellow card for Besic on the edge of the Burton 18 yard box. A high hoofed ball up to the on rushing Braithwaite saw him through one on one with Collins but the flag went up for offside as the Dane slotted it into the net. Seconds later Braithwaite again had a chance but it went wide under a challenge as Braithwaite reacted by rolling over clutching his shin claiming he had been fouled.
With four minutes of the half remaining a looped cross came in this time from Lewis Wing but it was plucked comfortably from Hugill’s head by Collins. A breakaway down the Burton Left hand side saw Fry left for dead as a low cross came in that was played across the Boro Box for two free yellow shirts but the ball was placed into Randolph’s top right corner but it went over the bar to let Boro off the hook just before the whistle signalled the end of the first half.
There was a strange muted atmosphere as the players went off, no boos, no jeers, no overt applause or appreciation just a bland polite response much like the game itself had been. It actually felt that I was in a dream and that I would somehow wake up this morning looking forward to tonight’s match so surreal was the indifference at what the fans had witnessed.
The second half resumed with Boro as usual kicking towards the North Stand but yet again a sleepy Boro were almost caught cold as Burton kicked off and went perilously close with a break into the box ripping our so called defence apart. The Burton pressure just continued relentlessly as the visitors now smelt blood. A series of ridiculous Boro passing blunders repeatedly lost possession and encouraged a swarm of Yellow shirts to again run down our right side and unopposed into the Boro box, hit the upright for it to comically rebound out to Hesketh central who, losing Besic, twisted and turned to get a shot off, slipped, fell on his backside, jumped up, had a second go with a daisy cutter from the edge of the Boro 18 yard box and in it rolled past Randolph’s, left hand upright.
Slow starting Boro had somehow managed to take their negative slow motion antics to a new depth. Out fought and out run as Clough had switched tactics during the interval totally blindsiding Pulis as we were now being made to look like a Sunday Pub team. Our slow pedestrian build up to a lone Striker looked more ineffective than at any time this season as Burton looked far livelier and hungrier but most worryingly more confident. Fifty five minutes, one down and it could have been two or three as shell shocked Boro looked totally devoid of ideas.
A mistake by Batth nearly led to Burton nicking their second as he went to sleep and let a ball go over his head instead of reacting to it but he wasn’t the only one at fault, nobody was coming out of this horror show with any glory. Slow pedestrian, readable passing was the best we could muster; I think tactically it’s euphemistically called clearing your heads. We shaped up to hit high balls up to Hugill which Burton predictably dealt with all too easily. The Brewers were now sitting deeper in their own half confidently inviting Boro to pass their way through them and looked at ease knocking the ball about.
TP made his changes as Besic and Hugill came off with Tavernier and Assombalonga coming on to replace them. It would have been more logical for me to put Assombalonga up front alongside Hugill but that would be an admission of guilt from the bench I presume. Downing now went central with Britt taking up the lone role in the hope that Tav might inject a bit of pace down one flank. Prior to Tav’s arrival a Trabant in reverse gear would have injected pace into this Boro side. A half-hearted penalty claim as the lively Tavernier went down in the Burton box was as close as Boro had mustered any excitement in the second half.
In spite of the two Substitutions there was zero improvement out on the pitch as Burton carried on looking composed and by far the more threatening on the break as Boro looked very nervy and scrappy defending. Long gone is that assured defensive swagger from the early part of the Season, replaced by pandemonium and panic. In fairness Fry isn’t a Right back and was done a number of times and Friend on the opposite flank struggled defensively and his attacking forays looked like they were petering out before he gets over the half way line with no serious end product.
The tired and flagging Grant’s number went up for Fletcher on 72 minutes to come on except that it was Braithwaite that was actually being subbed which summed up how the night was panning out for Boro. There were boos as he departed some I suspect at the Dane himself but mostly at the bench for removing a goal scorer albeit an occasional one in a bad streak of form. Struggling to get back into the game the home fans were not entirely convinced that removing another Striker was the best solution to assist with Boro getting one of those things I believe Riverside archaeologists now refer to as a goal. Burton Goal scorer Hesketh hacked down Friend to pick up a yellow and provide Boro with a chance but of course it came to nothing.
As second half’s go this was as uninspiring as it gets. Fry had a chance but he passed instead of taking it on. A cross fired in from Wing was cut out by Brayford as Boro threatened to limp back to life. That cross seemed to offer a slight chink of positivity for Boro as they then started to mount a bit of a mini fight. Once again Tavernier went down in the box this time with the ball breaking to Britt but out it went for a corner which eventually died and ended in a free kick for Burton. Moments earlier the Brewers had been guilty of timewasting with Keeper Collins receiving a yellow for his troubles and now a late substitution saw goal scorer Hesketh amble of the pitch to run the clock down just a little bit more.
A golden opportunity was presented perfectly for Aden Flint and it was impossible to miss but obviously the shock of being able to score for Boro was far too much and he somehow managed to head it wide. There were many other hoofs and runs where Britt was just a yard short or a glanced header from Wing just wasn’t enough or long balls out of defence totally overplayed that even Usain Bolt wouldn’t have made it. We looked totally dysfunctional, jaded and brow beaten despite pumping balls into the Burton half for the last quarter hour plus the five minutes of added time.
The whistle went and I suspect with it quite possibly Tony Pulis’ tenure on Teesside as loud boos from the 17,000 or so home fans echoed around the Riverside on an evening that even edged out Southgate’s Cardiff Cup Tie. Everything that has been wrong and that has gone wrong over the last few weeks was repeatedly magnified. All the flaws and known weaknesses were laid bare in glorious Technicolour. Ultra-cautious nerves allied to negative tactics and a distinct lack of pace and an opposing Coach who wasn’t afraid to attack, change tactics and then sit deep and hang on to what they had justly earned sealed our fate. In fairness Burton thoroughly deserved their win.
MOM, yer jokin aren’t yer!