Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 0
It’s a well known fact that goals win games and at the moment
Boro just aren’t scoring enough. They haven’t found the net in over seven hours
of football, that’s far from play-off material.
Not even transfer deadline day signing Danny Graham, on his
Riverside return, could prevent Boro from extending their unwanted run to four
games without a goal, after a third consecutive 0-0 draw at home to Blackburn.
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| Karanka hasn't seen his side score in 4 consecutive games |
Whether it’s the system to play a lone striker or just a
lack of quality upfront which is letting them down remains a topic for debate. Bearing
in mind, while Boro were once again left puzzled in front of goal, former striker
Lukas Jutkiewitz, on loan at Bolton, was busy enjoying his first goal for his
new club, after scoring just two in twenty earlier this season for Boro.
In many ways this goalless draw was even more frustrating
than the tedious one Boro recorded at home to Wigan last week, as the hosts
squandered a catalogue of chances missing an opportunity to close the gap on
the top six which now stands at eight points.
Luckily for Boro, manager Aitor Karanka has settled what was
at times a patchy defence; this was their eighth clean sheet in ten league
games even without the centre back pairing of Rhys Williams and Daniel Ayala
who both face lengthy injury absences.
"It's frustrating for me because
we didn't play well against Doncaster, and we didn't deserve to win the game
against Wigan but [against Blackburn] we had a lot of chances” said Karanka
after the match.
"We
didn't score but that's football and I'm more confident than I was after the
last game. The keeper did very, very well and stopped us so we have to improve
with our chances."
Despite the calls for a more offensive
formation, Karanka stuck with his preferred 4-2-3-1, but made four changes from
the side which drew at Doncaster last Saturday.
Jonathan Woodgate returned to captain
the side replacing the injured Ayala at centre back while Jozsef Varga was a
straight swap for Kenneth Omeruo at right back.
Further forward Dean Whitehead came in
for Jacob Butterfield to join Nathanial Chalobah in midfield, with Grant
Leadbitter, Mustapha Carayol and Emmanuel Ledesma ahead of them. Graham was preferred
to Curtis Main upfront, who dropped to the bench where he was joined by the fit
again Albert Adomah.
Boro took no time at all to get
started, within a minute Carayol had charged down the left to whip a low cross
into the box; however his team mates were late to arrive. Minutes later Carayol
was at it again, this time cutting in from the left to force a save at the near
post from Blackburn keeper Paul Robinson, who was also on hand to stop Chaloboh’s
header from the resulting corner.
The hosts continued to have the better chances,
especially down the left hand side. On twenty-six minutes George Friend made a powerful
run into the Blackburn penalty area where he curled in a cross which evaded
everyone and forced another save from Robinson.
There was more work for Robinson moments
after; Carayol’s latest shot was once again tipped around the near post by
Robinson, before Ledesma’s cross from the right looked like it had been spilled
by the Blackburn keeper, however he recovered well to smother the ball quickly.
It took until the thirtieth minute for
the visitors to finally threaten the Boro goal. Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes
has already netted sixteen times in the league so far and he could have made it
seventeen if wasn’t for a brilliant block from Ben Gibson inside the area. From
the following corner Rhodes’ strike Rudy Gestede found space to shoot but fired
wide.
On balance Boro had been the better
side which prompted more cheers than boos at half time. However their lack of ambition
upfront had once again been frustrating and for most of the half Graham had
been isolated upfront.
Boro had earned nine corners to
Blackburn’s one in the first half, a statistic they continued to improve after the
break. Six minutes after the re-start, Friend’s cross took a wicked deflection
off Blackburn midfielder Jason Lowe causing the ball to dip toward his own goal
however it landed inches wide of the post.
A goal looked imminent, but still it
didn’t come. From a Blackburn corner Graham led a promising counter attack
before feeding a delightful pass through to Carayol, who shrugged off the last
defender but couldn’t beat the advancing figure of Robinson who saved with his
leg.
Blackburn had done little to trouble
Boro keeper Shay Given, who made a rare intervention to deny Tom Carney’s
effort from range. However Boro still looked more likely to snatch it, with
twenty minutes to go Karanka threw on Adomah, who made an immediate impact with
a shot from distance which Robinson tipped over the bar.
In desperation for a goal Karanka also
introduced Kei Kamara and Curtis Main; however their late surge slowly faded and
was washed away be the heavy rain which only added to Boro’s misery.
Player Ratings
Shay Given 7- Not much to do but reliable when called
upon
George Friend 7.5- Linked up well with Carayol to cause problems
on the left
Ben Gibson 7.5- Slotted in well to defence kept Rhodes quiet
Jonathan Woodgate 7- Solid afternoon not posed huge threat by
the opposition
Joszef Varga 6.5- Wasn’t caused much trouble by
opposition at right back
Dean Whitehead 6.5- Protected the back four and broke up
play in midfield
Nathanial Chalobah 6- Liked to get on the ball, sometimes a
little too casual
Grant Leadbitter 6- Played in unfamiliar role of attacking midfielder,
didn’t have the same effect on the game Emmanuel Ledesma 6- Created a few chances, but went missing
for spells in the game
Mustapha Carayol 8- By far Boro’s brightest player causing
all sorts of problems crossing and shooting from the left
Danny Graham 6- Showed good signs with his movement, but
overall isolated upfront
Subs
Albert Adomah 6- Added a spark when he came on surprising
he didn’t start
Kei Kamara 6- Came on with 15 minutes to go as Boro
pushed for a winner
Curtis Main- Replaced Graham with 7
minutes to go, not enough time to give a fair rating
My Boro Man Of The Match: Mustapha
Carayol
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