Middlesbrough 3 Charlton 1
Bamford 5 Vossen 47 Guðmundsson 37
Tomlin 87
If there’s ever a way to justify being named Championship
player of the month, then Lee Tomlin’s performance earlier today certainly did
it.
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| Jelle Vossen celebrates Boro's second goal |
The tricky Middlesbrough playmaker took the game by the
scruff of the neck to help his side beat Charlton by three goals to one at the
Riverside Stadium, by scoring and providing an assist for Jelle Vossen to add
his impressive recent tally.
Both came after Patrick Bamford’s first half header was
cancelled out by Charlton midfielder Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson’s fine strike, it’s
a win which keeps Boro a single point behind the league leaders Derby and Bournemouth
who were both also victorious in the 3 o’clock kick-offs.
On paper 3-1 may look like a convincing victory against a
Charlton side who were 18th before kick-off and hadn’t won since
November. But Tomlin’s goal, an audacious vivid volley from the edge of the box,
didn’t come until the 87th minute when the game was finally put to
bed.
“I told players at half-time the worst thing that could’ve
happened was scoring the first goal,” said Karanka after the game. “That meant
we thought it was going to be easy and it wasn't – it was difficult.
“The worst thing was to score and the best thing was to
concede because we needed to wake up and play the way we can and we did that in
the end.
“Everyone has been speaking about what a good team we are
after winning the Manager of the Month and the Player of the Month awards and
then we scored within five minutes, when we play the way we did in the second
half it’s difficult to beat us.”
The Boro manager named an unchanged side from the one which beat
Brentford by a goal to nil the previous Saturday. Daniel Ayala was forced to
serve the second of his two match suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards,
that meant Ben Gibson and Kenneth Omeruo were once again selected as the
central defensive pairing.
In contrast Charlton manager Guy Luzon made four alterations
from the visitor’s last game. One of those included Ex- Boro defender Andre
Bikey who dropped to the bench and was replaced by Oguchi Onyewu who joined
former Boro loanee Milos Veljkovic in the starting line-up.
Like Karanka said a lot of people had been talking about
Boro after he and Tomlin landed the manager and player of the month awards, inside
five minutes the hosts had quickly stormed ahead.
From Leadbitter’s in swinging corner Bamford broke free from
any sort of defensive marking before flicking a near post header across goal
and past Charlton keeper Marko Dmitrović.
From there the script was written for Boro to sail into the
distance and run out worthy winners. That wasn’t the case and although the better
chances did fall to the hosts, Boro didn’t exactly look like putting a side low
in confidence firmly to the sword.
With 12 minutes played Leadbitter’s shot deflect wide, five
minutes later Tomlin’s clever flick presented Bamford a sight at goal but Dmitrović
saved. The Charlton keeper looked less convincing when dealing with Vossen’s
long range effort which he couldn’t hold and beat away with his fists.
Around the half hour mark the game had to be stopped when Veljkovic
picked up a shoulder injury and had to make way for substitute Johnnie Jackson.
That summed up the dreary nature of the game, in which Boro had been unable to enforce
their usual slick and tidy passing game.
On 37 minutes their lapse in urgency came back to bite them.
Tony Watt cut inside from the left and
teed up Guðmundsson, who was some distance from goal, however his left foot shot
was accurately placed into the top left corner and gave Boro keeper Dimi
Konstatopulos little chance.
Nevertheless in the halftime interval, Karanka managed to strike
some tempo back into his promotion chasing side. Within two minutes of the
restart they were back in front when Tomlin’s deception and skill allowed him
to cut through the Charlton defence and into the penalty area where he squared
the ball to Vossen who converted from close range.
That was the cue for Boro to stamp their authority on the
match, however on 52 minutes they had to rely on Gibson’s vital interception
which prevented Watt a clear sight at goal.
Boro had more control of proceedings in the second half and
their passing generally had more of a zest to it. On 57 minutes Albert Adomah’s
cross was turned behind and from the resulting corner Clayton’s low effort was
held by Dmitrović.
Just after the hour mark Tomlin set up Bamford inside the
Charlton box where the Boro forward was tackled and appealed for a penalty but
referee Trevor Kettle waved play on. Vossen also had chances to add to his
earlier goal, however his close range volley hit the side netting before a later
effort was deflected over the cross bar. With 18 minutes to go there was a home
debut for Adam Forshaw who replaced Bamford.
But the game was sealed three minutes from time when
Leadbitter’s corner picked out the unmarked Tomlin on the edge of the area who connected
sweetly with a first time volley which perfectly zipped through the air and in
to the bottom corner of the net.
Another job done. Another Boro win. Another step closer to
promotion.
Player Ratings
Dimi Konstantopulos 7- Could do little about the goal, apart
from that had little to do
Ryan Fredericks 8- Crossing was accurate, provided attacking
threat from right back
Kenneth Omeruo 6- Still looks a little rusty after a run
out of the side
Ben Gibson 7- Consistent performer week after week
George Friend 6.5- Got forward on occasions but not as
much as usual
Adam Clayton 6.5- Hard midfield work often goes unnoticed
Grant Leadbitter 7- Was the commanding presence in midfield
Patrick Bamford 7- Opening goals adds to impressive run
Albert Adomah 5.5- Was on the fringes for most of the game
Lee Tomlin 9- Took the game by the scruff of the neck
and provided quality to win it
Jelle Vossen 7- Got in a good position to score and
worked hard upfront
Subs
Adam Forshaw 6- Made home debut coming on with 18 minutes
to go
My Boro Man Of The Match: Lee
Tomlin
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