Middlesbrough 2 Hull 0
Haroun 59
Miller 66
Consistency is the key. That has been the message from the
Middlesbrough camp this week and after producing three wins in their last three
games no one could argue that Tony Mowbray’s side have shown signs of what is
required in this league as they snuck up to third in the Championship table following
a 2-0 victory over Hull last night.
| Miller celebrates his first goal for the club |
Recharged after the international break the Boro fans watched arguably
their side’s best performance at the Riverside this season controlling large parts
of the game and creating by far the more superior chances compared to their opponents.
However the game will be remembered for a seven minute spell which
ultimately decided the game, after first Faris Haroun’s calm finish moved the
hosts in front before Ishmael Miller converted his first goal for the club, steering
in the rebound from Scott McDonald’s shot.
Mowbray made three changes from the side that escaped with a 1-0
victory away at Brighton on Saturday with Miller and Adam Reach making their
first starts since recovering from injury replacing McDonald and Nicky Bailey.
Jonathan Woodgate’s absence meant Grant Leadbitter took over the captain’s armband
while Seb Hines took Woodgate’s place in defence.
The hosts made the brighter start early on when Reach dispossessed
Hull defender Andy Dawson before his low shot forced keeper Ben Amos into action eight minutes in. Amos,
who looked nervous from the start, was kept by far the busier keeper after
preventing Hines’s header from the resulting corner he was again tested from
Marvin Emnes’s long range attempt.
Boro have been criticised in
recent home games for a defensive set up frustrating the fans, but the pace of
Reach and Haroun caused problems for the Hull defence. While Leadbitter found
himself in the thick of the action stinging the palms of Amos from the edge of
the area as he Josh McEachran received the ball in advanced positions.
However despite their dominance
Boro had nothing to show for the first twenty minutes as the visitors began to
take a foot hold in the game proving difficult to break down. Hull’s best
chance came seven minutes before half time when Sunderland loany Ahmed Elmohamady wasted a close range free kick
as he suffered a quiet evening.
After the restart
Boro again came close to breaking the deadlock when George Friend’s header rebounded
back off the crossbar; however the full back’s next involvement would prove to
be more telling. After the hosts were defending a corner the ball fell to
Friend whose powerful run brought him deep into the Hull half before he
threaded his pass through to Haroun who coolly rounded the keeper to roll the
ball into an empty net.
Seven minutes
later Boro were cruising after Friend was once more was involved in another
forward run drawing defenders as he cut inside to see his shot saved by the
keeper, but only to fall to substitute McDonald whose acrobatic kick brought
another save from Amos presenting the ball in front of Miller allowing him to net
his first goal for the club since his loan arrival in the summer.
Steve Bruce then threw on Sone Aluko and Jay
Simpson to try and rescue a point for his side but it appeared it was not to be
their night, as they piled on the pressure late on when Corry Evans went
though on goal beating Jason Steele to be denied by the post.
Boro could still
have extended their lead after McDonald created a chance inside the area but
couldn’t hit the target as the game finished 2-0. Mowbray later said “We
created a lot more opportunities and on the balance of things I think we deserved
the three points.”
Match Ratings
Jason
Steele 7- Little to do but still alert
when called upon
George
Friend 9- Coped well with Elmohamady,
threat brilliant going forward contributed to both goals
Andre Bikey 8- Another solid performance driving the
team forward
Seb Hines 8- Provided excellent cover for the absent
Woodgate
Stewart
Parnaby 7.5- Solid performance, intelligent
on the ball
Adam Reach 7 Posed a threat with his pace tired toward
the end before being substituted
Josh
McEachran 7- Comfortable on the ball, looking to create chances
Grant Leadbitter
(C) 8- Great captain performance gave
cover to the back four while intelligent passing going forward
Faris
Haroun 7- Took goal calmly, gave width
which the team have missed in previous games
Marvin
Emnes 7- Took a few shots from range,
came deep to receive at times
Ismael
Miller 7.5- Pace and strength caused
problems to defenders, finally got his first goal for the club
Subs
Scott McDonald 6- Gave a different threat to defenders
when coming on
Nicky
Bailey 6- tidy with the ball after
coming on with a quarter of an hour to go
Emmanuel Ledesma - Came on for last ten minutes set up
McDonald chance late on
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