A Winning Start For Boro

Middlesbrough     2        Birmingham     0

                     Ayala  33    Kike  65

 

 

There’s a sense of optimism around Teesside, a sense that Boro’s five year stay in the Championship may finally be close to its end.

The last time they won on the opening day of a new league season they were enjoying the thrills and drama of the Premier League. At the start of this campaign there’s a strong belief that England’s top tier isn’t far away.

Kike celebrates his first ever Boro goal

Of course a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City was only the first in what is bound to be a long and hard 46 game Championship season but after goals from Daniel Ayala and new striker Kike the signs definitely look bright for Aitor Karanka’s side.

 "It was very good; a very good result and performance. You never know in the first game of the season” said the Boro manager. "We started in the same way as we finished last season, with confidence."

That confidence proved to be a key factor, Lee Clark’s Birmingham side lost 24 times last season and only survived relegation to league one on goal difference. Boro on the other hand finished their last campaign with back to back wins and were spurred on by a Riverside crowd of over 18,000 filled with the positivity only an opening day can bring.

Karanka stuck to his guns and deployed the same 4-2-3-1 formation he drilled into the side last year. In goal new signing Tomas Mejias received the nod over Dimi Konstantopoulos and Jason Steele, while Seb Hines was a surprise inclusion at right back as he joined Ayala, Ben Gibson and George Friend in the back four.

Captain Grant Leadbitter and Dean Whitehead occupied the two central midfield slots, with Albert Adomah, Lee Tomlin and Adam Reach in front of them and Kike operating as the lone striker. New signings James Husband and Emilio Nsue started on the bench as did Chelsea Loanee Kenneth Omeruo.

Birmingham handed out a debut to former Boro defender Jonathan Grounds along with Grant Hall, on loan from Tottenham, and Stephen Gleeson who signed from MK Dons.

At last the new season was under way but for Ben Gibson it didn’t last long at all, with less than one minute on the clock the Boro centre back went in for a 50/50 ball inside his own half and came out second best. He limped off with what appeared an ankle injury and was finally replaced by Omeruo.

Nevertheless the hosts were creating all the early chances with Kike and Tomlin looking sharp at the spearhead of the Boro attack. With 7 minutes gone Friend picked out Tomlin from a throw in, with his back towards goal he turned and tried his luck from range but his shot was just off target.

Minutes later Tomlin turned provider and after a neat passage of play from Boro he threaded a cutting pass through to Kike inside the visitor’s penalty area, but the finish whistled over the bar. Birmingham’s only real effort of the half came when Demarai Gray was fouled a couple of yards outside the Boro box however from the resulting free kick he couldn’t test Mejias.

Birmingham’s confidence was visibly beginning to grow however Boro quickly put a stop to it and made sure momentum didn’t change hands. On 33 minutes the deadlock was broken when Leadbitter’s in swinging corner was met by Ayala who connected with a powerful header which City keeper Darren Randolph couldn’t keep out.    

Boro could have inflicted further damage before the break, Leadbitter managed to carve out a threatening cross from the left hand side however there was no one to apply the finishing touch. Moments later Friend produced one of his trademark runs into the heart of the opposition penalty area however his final shot let him down.

The second half began a much more open affair as gaps began appear in both side’s back lines. On Boro’s right Adomah was now enjoying far more space and three minutes after the re-start he nearly made it count, however from a tight angle the Ghanaian was denied by Randolph who made an impressive full-stretch save at his near post.

Clark’s side were posing a little more resistance than they had done before the interval however it was Boro who were still creating the clear opportunities. After 65 minutes the hosts had their second when Reach’s cross was cleared as far as Whitehead, his scuffed shot fell into the path of Kike who tucked the ball away from close range. Already a fan favourite Boro’s new striker was then greeted by the chats of “olé olé olé olé Kike Kike”

With 20 minutes to go Karanka made a second change by introducing Nsue in place of Adomah, the visitors also reacted by bringing on Clayton Donaldson for Wes Thomas.

The hosts nearly added a third from a crafty training ground free kick which was passed short setting up Kike inside the area however Randolph was equal to it and made a smart save low down. The Birmingham keeper was also on hand to keep out late efforts from Nsue and substitute Luke Williams but it didn’t matter Boro had claimed the points and were off to a winning start.

Player Ratings    

Tomas Mejias   7- Wasn’t given much to do, composed when catching crosses and looked a safe choice in goal

Seb Hines   7- Solid performance in the unfamiliar right back position making few errors

Ben Gibson - Forced off with ankle injury after less than a minute

Daniel Ayala   7.5- Strong in the air and scored a powerful header for the opener

George Friend   8- Did a good job defensively and got forward to good effect from left back

Grant Leadbitter   7- Good deliveries from set pieces, kept the team organised in midfield

Dean Whitehead   7.5- Protected the back four well, disciplined performance in midfield

Albert Adomah   6- quiet in the first half, found more space after the break but couldn’t always use it

Adam Reach   7.5- Crossing was effective and created chances, linked up well with Friend on the left

Lee Tomlin   7.5- A constant threat in the first half and tracked back well, faded a little after half time

Kike   8.5- Linked up well with the rest of the team, movement was excellent and topped it off with a goal

Subs

Kenneth Omeruo   8- Snubbed out all of Birmingham’s attacks and cleared the danger immediately

Emilio Nsue   6- Came on for the last 20 minutes but didn’t see much of the ball

Luke Williams – Came on for the last 5 minutes, not enough time to give a fair rating

My Boro Man Of The Match: Kike