Middlesbrough 1 Leicester 2
Bailey 48 Vardy 62
Dyer 89
Boro's home fans were left frustrated and aggrieved after a late winner from Leicester substitute Lloyd Dyer ended a 100% record at the Riverside in heartbreaking fashion.
| Dyer's deflected shot loops over Jason Steele |
After victory in the cup on Tuesday Mowbray recalled most of his established player who sat out in the week,with hero at Blackburn Lukas Jutkiewicz playing as a lone striker in Marvin Emmnes absence . Jonathan Woodgate captained the team as he and Andre Bikey again returned to the heart in defense with George Friend and Justin Hoyte in the full back positions.
The hosts started slowly as they were stretched from the off, when Woodgate was forced to clear a low cross with striker David Nugent lurching behind him. Boro's best chance looked to be on the counter attack as they relieved some pressure though Bailey whose effort across goal went just wide.
A defensive minded midfield saw Boro come under most of the pressure in the opening 45 minutes, as they struggled to retained the ball while a lack of bodies and movement toward the attacking third continued to annoy the home supporters.
Middlesbrough's biggest threat came from full back George Friend, whose attacking runs from defense threatened down the left hand side re-engaging the crowd, however few options in attacking areas meant he was often crowded out when reaching the penalty area as the game remained goalless at the break.
Boro only tested Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel once in the first half, but the son of Manchester United Peter Schmeichel was soon beaten as the second half burst into life. As the visitors sat back Bailey was able to get on the ball before unleashing a 30 yard strike,which looked to be heading for the stands, but flew past the stranded keeper into the top right hand corner.
The home side could have had the game wrapped up soon after, as more positive play saw them break in numbers using the pace of Hoyte whose low cross was met by Jutkiewicz before unluckily rebounding of the cross bar and the chance was gone.
Naturally defending a goals lead Boro reverted to a defensive set up, as the Foxes began to move men forward pushing for the equalizer.Then with just under half an hour to go the scores were leveled when an original shot from Danny Drinkwater hit Dyer, who looked in an offside position, and fell nicely to Jamie Vardy who buried the rebound with the Boro player fuming at the linesman's decision.
Mowbray introduced Luke Williams and Emmanuel Ledesma as the game slowly became more open, first an excellent save from Steele to deny the header of former Boro player Sean St Ledger before Williams low shot was deflected wide as the game then looked to be heading for the draw.
However after a mysterious free kick was given to Leicester inside the Boro half the ball eventually fell to substitute Dyer whose shot took a cruel deflection off Friend looping over Steele to silence the home fans and give the visitors all three points.
Player Ratings
Jason Steele 7- Not much he could have done about ether goal looking like one of the top keepers in this division
Justin Hoyte 6.5- Looked a threat going forward but wasn't found on the wing enough
Jonathan Woodgate 6- Came off after 39 minutes with a hamstring problem
Andre Bikey 7.5- Vocal in defense not afraid to bring the ball forward from the back
George Friend 7.5- Unlucky with deflection at the end looked Boro's biggest threat in the first half
Josh McEachran 5.5- Got in a few forward possitions at the start of the second half but struggled to get on the ball
Kevin Thompson 6.5- Looked better on the ball replaced by Willaims as Boro looked for more attacking options
Grant Leadbitter 6- Played in a deep midfield with players that looked too similar
Nicky Bailey 7- Scored a brilliant goal which looked like giving boro the points
Merouane Zemmama 5- A few Indecisive decisions on Boro counter attacks
Lukas Jutkiewicz 6- A bit isolated up front not enough players supporting him
Subs
Hines 6.5- Replaced Woodgate in first half gave a solid performance tried to release Hoyte's pace from defence
Williams 5.5- Had one shot go just wide as the game became more open
Emmanuel Ledesma 6- added a extra body in attacking third looked a threat
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