| Reading | Middlesbrough | ||
| Friend | 77′ | ||
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
58% 12 4 9 12 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
42% 16 6 8 15 |
Friend fires binary Boro victory
Today saw an opportunity for Boro to bounce back against managerless Reading at the Madejski Stadium down in Berkshire. With supposed new non moss gathering boss Jose Gomes still employed by Rio Ave in Portugal subject to a compensation settlement the Royals stand in gaffer Scott Marshall would have been optimistic and buoyed facing shot shy Boro after watching Burton march deservedly into the League Cup Semi-finals at the Riverside on Tuesday night. Slip, siding Middlesbrough apparently had a few niggles and knocks according to TP at yesterday’s press conference. Presumably bruised ego’s were the main requirement for the Rockliffe physio’s ice packs rather than stretched hamstrings.
The “little knocks and niggles” is more likely coded manager speak for dropping a few of those that have flattered to deceive for a very long time now or at least we had hoped. Tuesday night must have surely been a Damsacene moment for the experienced Boro manager in that what he has is now not just leaking badly but starting to dangerously list. If not then the likelihood was for a torrent of abuse from the travelling army building on rankles away at Loftus Road last weekend which then turned into a unified chorus of boos at the Riverside. The hope was that the “one or two changes” that TP alluded to yesterday would have a more positive outcome than watching ten men defend while their striker mate is left unattended and alone in enemy territory.
The “niggle enforced changes” were revealed with Downing omitted from the squad entirely with Hugill out of the starting eleven as TP reverted to a back three with Friend and Shotton operating as wing backs. Surprising for me was to see Besic still in the side after a few dubious performances topped off with dithering yet again instead of clearing the danger for the Burton goal on Tuesday night. Saville we presumed to be playing just behind Britt, supporting him in his lonely role up front. The Royals had handed a debut to 20 year old Gabriel Osha at CB alongside Tyler Blackett. Ex Boro target Chris Gunter missed out with injury and so another 20 year old Omar Richards started in his place at left back.
Reading got the game underway with a back heeled chance coming to Baldock for Reading as Randolph was forced into action early on as Reading passed the ball past our defence not for the first time of late and Randolph fortunately got a boot to it to stop the Royals taking an early lead. A comedy of errors followed in the Reading defence and saw Britt in with a half chance then breaking to Saville and Howson but we just couldn’t take advantage of the situation. Hopefully TP would notice that the Reading back line looked nervy and edgy with two 20 year old replacements in situ.
A Saville near post corner created more chaos in the Reading box with Shotton and Ayala both hovering. Another corner won by Shotton failed to beat the first man by Saville. Boro had Reading on the back foot and still looking very suspect in front of Jaakkola. A poor Royals clearance allowed Clayton to get a cross in to Flint who connected with it but went wide. As defensive a team selection as Boro looked on paper at kick off we were passing the ball around confidently and with fifteen minutes gone Boro were looking comfortable and by far the more likely to score. Assombalonga had another great opportunity set up by Howson but with Blackett closing on him forced a good save out of Jaakkola in the Reading goal.
A Howson right wing cross in to the far post and George Friend was cleared out for a corner which was ultimately collected by Jaakkola who was clattered into by Flint for his troubles. A minor slip by Fry allowed the Royals a little bit of hope but it came to nothing. As dominant as Boro were in this game that was a reminder that if we don’t score goals we are always vulnerable. Howson and Shotton were enjoying a good afternoon up against the stand-in Reading Left Back Richards. A free kick for a foul on Britt was delivered by Saville was met by Shotton in the middle of the Reading box
to put us one up but the linesman’s flag went up for a presumed offside which looked very questionable. Moments later Shotton had to close down Mo Barrow to put the ball out for a Royals corner which was punched clear by Randolph and saw Ayala try and play the ball out of defence which ended up with Baldock fizzing a ball back into the Boro box but fortunately there were no Reading attackers in the danger zone. The disallowed goal had fired up both the home fans and the home side as another Reading corner off Howson’s shin on the half hour mark was delivered in but after a lot of shirt tugging and jostling Flint cleared. Surprisingly the Ref awarded a free kick for Boro which perplexed the home fans but we were happy to take it.
A repeat opportunity for Saville to deliver an identical free kick as the disallowed goal saw the usual Boro big lads up in the Reading box which this time was met by Jaakkola to end the danger. A Shotton break saw Barrow left for dead forcing Richards to concede a throw in but again Jaakkola dealt with the threat. Besic played a poor ball out to Friend to concede possession as Boro attempted a rare break down the left and allowed Reading a chance to get out of defence. Friend again broke down the left but Yiadom tackle prevented any further progress. As the ball then went out of play Shotton was laid flat out on the pitch with nobody near him to be replaced by McNair with the suspicion of a recurrence of his previous injury. It was a huge loss for Boro as up until this point Shotton was arguably the Boro MOM.
Besic picked up another yellow as he was left for dead by Rinomhota as his see/saw contribution to the side continued yet again. The free kick went out for a corner, was cleared but we then immediately conceded another free kick conceded this time by Clayton saw the ball delivered in and after heart stopping activity in the Boro box was saved by Randolph. Almost immediately a long range Baldock shot saw Randolph having to be quick on his feet to keep a clean sheet. Since Shotton departed Reading came back into the game pressurising Boro with the match entering the dying stages of the first half. Barrow beat then McNair out wide to get a ball in which was eventually hoofed clear by Howson, collected by Assombalonga and then twenty yards out Besic had a shot but straight at Jaakkola which in turn went out for a corner. Those frantic few minutes were brought to a close by Ref Stephen Martin who blew for the end of the half.
The travelling army were hoping that we wouldn’t be left rueing those missed opportunities that we had before Shotton went off. Despite having that purple patch in the middle of the half Boro didn’t really seriously threaten Anssi Jaakkola, most of the Finn’s goalkeeping duties were fairly routine crosses and catches. The defensive nature of the Boro set up certainly didn’t help Britt and our old problems of creating good quality chances continued.
The teams lined up for the second half as they had finished the first with Ayala, Flint and Fry forming a back three and McNair and Friend slightly forward as Wing Backs and Howson Besic and Saville in the middle with Clayts protecting the defence. Britt of course was all alone as is ever the case under TP. Boro kicked off the second half in the exact same manner as they did on Tuesday and giving Randolph some action almost immediately. Clearly lessons hadn’t been learnt from mid-week. That did seem to spark Boro back into life as McNair and Besic got us up the pitch where Besic then had a shot put out for a corner taken by Howson which came to nothing.
An in-swinging corner from Saville allowed Jaakkola to again collect easily. A ball over the Reading defence saw Howson and Assombalonga confused with an impending offside and Reading then broke and had Boro looking desperate clearing the danger. The game was now scrappy, messy and as Besic was dispossessed it took a block from McNair to save the Bosnians blushes. The resultant corner was wasted by Reading but again the warning signs were there that if Boro don’t score they look very vulnerable. A chance for McNair ended up with Reading breaking down the opposite end leaving Ayala for dead with Flint coming across to tidy up and Randolph clearing. That might have stirred something deep within TP because both Tav and Wing then started to warm up as yet again our lack of a cutting edged and a plethora of defensive midfielders failed to break down the defence of a managerless and struggling Championship side.
A great ball played in from McNair went past Britt across Jaakkola’s six yard box but there was nobody in a Red shirt to tap it in. Barrow then put McNair under pressure at the opposite end forcing the Northern Irishman to concede a corner which went out for a goal kick as the Boro subs still lined up. Mo Barrow again set up a move for Reading forcing Fry to clear as the home side now looked by far the livelier as Boro resorted to default mode and dropped deep. Boro were looking distinctly flat and out of ideas and we were now struggling to get a grip of things. What the half time team talk consisted of is a mystery because we had zero intensity since restarting the game.
TP then made his substitutions and bizarrely Assombalonga was brought off along with the more obvious hauling off of the erratic Besic to much grumbling from the away end shouting “Attack, Attack, Attack” and not for the first time in recent Boro history. Needing to score against a very poor Reading side and removing a Striker was not what was required in the eyes of the away fans. Lewis Wing came on along with Jordan Hugill as Reading came close with Bacuna but a George Friend clearance up field fizzled out yet again.
Reading then brought Swift on for Loader in an effort to counter what was perceived as a more attack minded Boro. The youngster Osha broke out of his defence Fry like and carried the ball up the pitch well into the Boro half putting us on the back foot. Reading were still controlling the game and a Bacuna chance goal wards seemingly hit Flint on the hand as penalty claims were shouted from the home fans. Saville broke away and was scythed down to give Boro another set piece chance which Ayala went for with Jaakkola with the reading keeper winning the battle. Hugill came close in forcing Blackett to make a goal-saving header as he came close to getting on the end of Friend’s ball in but the Royals CB made a great defensive header.
A fierce Wing shot was rocketed in from 30 yards out to provide Boro with our most exciting effort of the second half. This second half was lacking any real quality from Boro made worse all the worse by seeing a Reading defence that was susceptible and there for the taking made worse by a disappointing like for like sub switch by Pulis with Hugill on for Assombalonga instead of upping the ante. Then as our frustrations had built, almost on cue McNair was fed in by Howson who paused and then squared to George Friend rifling a right footed shot 12 yards out to bury it past Jaakkola and it was one nil to Boro.
A few minutes after that goal went in George Saville went down to much angst on the away bench with some doubt on the merits of his injury voiced by the home fans. A corner taken by Wing was punched clear by Jaakkola, gathered by Saville then recycled to Wing again and it broke to McNair who had been having a good game since arriving as Reading again cleared the danger. With five minutes remaining the young left back Richards was removed for Striker Bodvarsson. Almost immediately Lewis Wing made a run and firing in a shot that was blocked by the lively Jaakkola, seconds later Friend should have had a second as he hit the bar when scoring was easier. Then Friend was adjudged to have handled by the home fans as he got back to defend but thankfully it was adjudged to be ball to hand.
Aden Flint blocked a move involving Barrow who skinned Ayala but the Reading corner was poorly executed and as the ball then went up field Tyler Blackett took Hugill out in what should have been a straight red card but was adjudged a yellow as the fourth official held up five added minutes. Saville took a short free kick and Hugill took the ball onto the touchline, lost it for a Reading throw in and then nearly lost it with Bacuna as they went head to head. Within seconds Hugill then went down
with Blackett in close attendance holding his face claiming an elbow straight in front of the linesman who clearly saw nothing in it. Reading gained possession, immediately went to test Randolph as Bacuna wound up his shot but ridiculously cleared the stand roof never mind Randolph’s cross bar. Flint cleared another Reading assault and then Friend put it out for a corner which ended up as a frantic melee in the Boro box and Blackett who probably shouldn’t have been on the pitch by now had the perfect chance to equalise but fortunately Karma intervened and blazed it over. Stephen Martin’s whistle went and Boro’s good away record continued albeit making far harder work of it than it should have been.
There were many questions on tactics, selections and performance on this afternoon’s performance at the Madejski Stadium but importantly we left with all three points but it was far from convincing. MOM for me was Johnny Howson but a special mention for McNair who came on and put in his best performance since arriving at Boro and for Randolph who kept us in it. With two fortuitous Penalty claims going our way this was far from a resounding away win and could have very easily ended far differently. Playing a lone Striker against a very poor side and then keeping to the same format but with different personnel did not go down well. The result was the right one but the manner of it did little to convince or sway growing sceptical attitudes.