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 Sunday 27th November 2005, Barclays Premiership, Riverside Stadium, Kick-Off 3:00pm
Middlesbrough : Schwarzer, Queudrue (Nemeth HT), Southgate, Riggott, Pogatetz, Morrison (Doriva 79), Boateng, Rochemback, Parnaby, Viduka (Hasselbaink 79), Yakuba. Subs not used: Jones (gk), Bates
Albion: Kuszczak, Watson (Albrechtsen HT), C Davies, Clement, Robinson, Greening, Wallwork, Inamoto, Kamara (Carter 62), Kanu, Ellington. Subs not used: Hoult (gk), Earnshaw, Horsfield
Referee: Peter
Walton (Northamptonshire) Half-Time: Middlesbrough 1-1 Albion Attendance: 27,041 Conditions: Heavy rain, cold
MATCH REPORT
BY: ALBION TEAM NEWS: Baggies' boss Bryan Robson made two changes to the team that started against Everton last week - Paul Robinson returned from suspension replacing Martin Albrechtsen and Kanu took the place of Geoff Horsfield up front.MIDDLESBROUGH TEAM NEWS: Boss Steve McClaren made six changes to the team that began at Alkmaar in midweek. Schwarzer, Southgate, Yakubu, Queudrue, Parnaby and Rochemback all returning to the side in place of Jones, Bates, Nemeth, Hasselbaink, Doriva and Ehiogu.KANU MASTERCLASS HELPS ALBION TO A POINT AT THE RIVERSIDE The best away performance of the season so far? That was certainly the view of the majority of travelling fans after the game but for me the performance at Craven Cottage in the Carling Cup was better - but only just. The display at the Riverside was very good attacking-wise, but defensively it wasn’t great. We did most certainly deserve a share of the points though. After his excellent performance against Everton last week Kanu was rightly recalled back into the side in place of Geoff Horsfield, Paul Robinson also returned after suspension in place of the unlucky to be dropped Martin Albrechtsen. As for Boro there was some relief amongst Baggies’ fans that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was only a substitute, Steve McClaren opting to go with Mark Viduka and Yakubu up front. Before the game there was a minute’s silence for both the legendary George Best who died Friday and Brendan Michael O'Connor; the Middlesbrough fan who was fatally stabbed whilst in Holland to watch Boro’s UEFA Cup tie against Alkmaar on Thursday night. Thankfully after the disgraceful scenes at both Millwall and Manchester City the silence was impeccably observed. As for the game itself Albion started the brightest, Boro looking very sluggish, perhaps suffering the effects of Thursday night’s game. With Kanu and Ellington both looking lively up front and with Inamoto, Greening and Kamara pulling the strings in midfield it appeared it would be just a matter of time before the deadlock was broken and on 12 minutes it was - but not by Albion. Aussie striker Viduka striking home a shot from the edge of the penalty area that Tomasz Kuszczak in the Albion goal perhaps should of done better with. With the goal going in against the run of play thoughts quickly raced back to the last meeting between the two sides in April. Just like then Albion had dominated the opening stages of the game only to fall behind to a sucker-punch. Would we now capitulate like we did last season? The answer thankfully was no. On 18 minutes Nathan Ellington put the visitors back on level terms with a neat strike from 15 yards. Just like three of last weeks goals against Everton, Kanu was involved heavily in the build-up, winning the ball on the edge of the box thus playing in the ‘Duke’ for the finish. Whilst Kanu’s skill and vision have never been questioned his workrate has; yesterday though was perhaps the most tireless and hardworking display he has put in for the club so far. Albion’s goal definitely lifted the home side though and only two fine saves from Kuszczak prevented the hosts from retaking the lead, one of the saves; from a Pogatetz header was top class. Whilst we continued to look ok going forward, defensively we looked quite shaky with Clement again less than convincing in the centre of defence but as the half drew to a close Albion did claw themselves back into the game. First Junichi Inamoto tried his luck from distance, hitting a 30 yard shot that whizzed wide of Boro’s goal and then right on the stroke of half-time Ellington tried his luck from 25 yards only to see Schwarzer comfortably save. Half-time saw Albion make a change, off went Steve Watson, presumably because of injury and on came Martin Albrechtsen. Boro also made a change with Szilard Nemeth replacing Queudrue. The second-half started much in the same way as the first with Albion looking the better team. Greening, Kamara, Kanu and Ellington were all causing the Boro defence problems and with Inamoto and Wallwork working hard in the centre of midfield Albion looked more than a match for their hosts and in the 57th minute that man Kanu gave us a well deserved lead. A quick counter attack led by none other than left-back Paul Robinson saw the ball finally arrive at the feet of the lanky Nigerian who smartly finished from 20 yards into the bottom corner of the net giving Schwarzer no chance. Albion were now well in control and one more goal would of without a doubt given us all three points but it was not to be. A clumsy 66th minute challenge from Paul Robinson on Nemeth gave the home side a penalty that the otherwise ineffective Yakubu coolly dispatched beyond Kuszczak. Despite protests from a number of Albion players television replays did indeed show that referee Peter Walton got the decision right. The equaliser set the game up for a thrilling finale, both sides pushed for a winner and both sides had chances. It really was end to end stuff and was probably the best game Albion have been involved in this season. The last 20 minutes of the game saw Albion play some excellent attacking football but they just could not grab a goal, Greening against his old club perhaps going the closest with a shot that went just inches wide. The ex-Boro star had minutes earlier given us one of the comedy moments of the season, after a run down the right wing, he was about to put over a cross but touched the ball slightly with his left foot, his swinging right foot connecting with only air. Suffice to say he ended up flat on his back, a sight which saw the whole ground, as well as Rob Earnshaw and Geoff Horsfield warming up on the touchline burst into laughter. It might have been funnier had it not happened at such a crucial time and in such a promising position. Whether Albion deserved all three points is debatable, yes we had chances but so did Boro. What was pleasing though was the actual way we played, as opposed to the shameful defensive tactics employed at Blackburn we actually went out looking to win the game from the start and as a result we nearly did. With winnable home games coming up against Fulham and Manchester City the hope is we can maintain the form we’ve shown in the last two games, if we do then there’s no reason why we can’t pick up six points. MAN OF THE MATCH: Kanu PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN Kuszczak 7 - Much improved from
Everton game, kicked well and made a number of good saves.
Watson 7 - Played well until
injury ended his game at half-time.
Davies 6 - Decent enough
performance, needs a better partner perhaps?
Clement 5 - Back to the form he
showed before Everton, very sloppy at times.
Robinson 5 - Not his best
performance in an Albion shirt, conceded penalty.
Greening 7 - Good performance,
always looked dangerous, final ball did let him down at times though.
Wallwork 6 - Worked hard but still looks too
slow at times.
Inamoto 6 - Like Wallwork worked
hard, perhaps needed to get forward a bit more.
Kamara 6 - Always dangerous in
possession, final ball sometimes let him down.
Kanu 8 - Worked hard, controlled
the ball well, set up first goal and scored the second.
Ellington 6 - Took goal well, made
a number of good runs but guilty of holding onto ball for too long. REF WATCH
Peter Walton 6 - Not a bad game but infuriated
fans with his apparent inability to tie his laces!
FAN
WATCH
wba.co.uk
Bryan Robson :"I thought we could have got all three points because of the way we finished the game. We passed the ball really well and got into great positions in the last third but weren't clinical enough to finish the game off. But I was pleased with the overall performance.” "The lads did well to keep going and get back into the game after going a goal down. Once we took the lead there weren't too many problems for us and we caused our own downfall. Robbo was a bit rash in his challenge in the box and didn't really leave the referee with any choice other than awarding a penalty. But our response after that was good because I thought Boro might go on from there after their equaliser lifted the crowd. In the last 15 minutes, I thought we passed them off the park and could easily have won the game.” "This is a good result even though we are disappointed about not taking all three points. This was probably our best away performance of the season. I thought we were good in the second half at West Ham but we missed chances down there and that has been costing us away from home. We've just missed far too many.” "l'lI be looking at the good points from the last two games and hopefully we can build on that and start pulling away from the bottom of the league." Source: wba.co.uk
Steve McClaren: "It's frustrating, very frustrating. Today summed up how we are at the moment. Five or six weeks ago people were complaining about the amount of goals and entertainment here, but you're certainly getting that now." "I feel we can always score at least a couple of goals per game, but we're having to score three or four to win at the moment and some days it's not going to happen for you. We have to start keeping clean sheets as the season continues - we do that in Europe, so why not the Premiership? Credit to Albion, they didn't sit back, played some good football, and did enough to get the point." Source: The Independent
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