Middlesbrough 1 QPR 3
Friend 18 Benayoun 45
Zamora 90+4
Morrison 90+6
If Boro’s 3-1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers tells us
anything about Aitor Karanka it’s that he will stick to his tactics no matter
what.
If there was ever a chance for the Spaniard to throw caution
to the wind and abandon his traditional defensive policy, today was that
opportunity. At this late stage in the season the table clearly shows Boro won’t
go down, neither will they go up and seemingly have nothing to lose.
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| Boro left to suffer after stoppage time goals |
However experimenting with the formation doesn’t appear be
on the Boro manager’s agenda. At 1-1 in today’s fixture his decision to persist
with a lone striker rather than switch to a more offensive formation was a sign
that he is convinced the system will work. In the long term maybe it will, from
Jose Mourinho he has learnt from the best.
In the meantime Boro will have to make do with another
painful defeat. After taking a first half lead through a rare George Friend goal,
the hosts were undone by Yossi Benayoun’s equaliser on the stroke of half time before
a double sucker punch when Bobby Zamora and Ravel Morrison were both on target
in second half stoppage time.
Karanka made three changes from the side which drew 0-0 at Bournemouth
the weekend before. The defence along with keeper Dimi Konstantopoulos were unchanged,
further forward captain Grant Leadbitter was suspended after picking up his 10th
booking of the season at Dean Court; he was replaced by Nathaniel Chalobah who partnered
stand in skipper Dean Whitehead in midfield.
In front of then Kei Kamara and Jacob Butterfield came in replacing
Lee Tomlin, who dropped to the bench, and Mustapha Carayol who will miss the
rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Danny Graham
remained the lone centre forward.
QPR’s play-off hopes suffered a worrying dent in mid-week
when they were convincingly beaten by Sheffield Wednesday. Manager Harry
Redknapp made six changes from that evening recalling goalkeeper Robert Green,
Suk-Young Yun, Tom Carroll, Niko Kranjcar, Will Keane and Benayoun. Former Boro
midfielder Gary O’Neil was on the bench.
Before kick-off the Boro side wore bright blue “T-shirts
with the words “Get well soon Muzzy” written on the front. With eight goals to
his name it’s clear the winger will be a huge loss.
The Rangers side was sprinkled with a number of ex-Premier League
players following their relegation last year. One of whom was the, never short
of controversy, Joey Barton, his long range shot with just two minutes played
forced Konstantopoulos to parry the ball away, it dropped kindly at the feet of
Carroll, whose rebound was denied by the foot of the Boro keeper.
Boro responded two minutes later when Butterfield turned
towards goal on the edge of a crowded Rangers penalty area but fired over the
cross bar, not long after he tried his luck again with a better view of goal
however Green was on hand to palm the ball away.
The game’s opening goal came on eighteen minutes. Friend
advanced on one of his adventurous runs from left back into the Rangers penalty
area where he cut inside, avoiding the attempted challenges, he pulled the trigger
at goal; Green got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.
It was clear to see that the Rangers midfield had quality;
they were comfortable and composed on the ball however, to Boro’s credit, they
failed to do much with it and the best chances fell the host’s way.
Just before the half hour mark Chalobah played a well measured
through ball to Friend on the left, the full back’s low cross towards the box
was dangerous however there was a lack of Boro players there to convert it.
Moments later the visitor’s goal was under threat again,
Whitehead’s well hit effort required a block from Barton to send it over the
bar, before Friend went close once more, his low half volley fizzed along the
ground but was comfortable for Green to gather.
Back came the visitors minutes before half time, Morrison,
on loan from Tottenham, showed why he is one of England’s hot prospects when he
drove at the Boro defence before unleashing a shot which Konstantopoulos had to
tip over the bar.
It wasn’t long before the Boro keeper was beaten though. In
first half stoppage time Kranjcar’s shot deflected into the path Benayoun who could
barely miss from close range; there were some Boro appeals for offside and at
the half time whistle the boos from the home fans were at the linesman who
turned them down.
It turned out to be the tale of two halves. Boro had attacked
with purpose and prevented the Rangers threat before the interval but after the
break they appeared to stall.
Five minutes after the re-start Konstantopoulos had to be
alert to catch Aaron Hughes’ cross which was heading goal bound, as the
visitors started to apply the pressure.
With just under half an hour to go Tomlin replaced Butterfield
as the attacking midfield, with Karanka electing not to change the balance of
the team.
A series of fouls and stray passes saw the match enter a
scrappy period. Chaloboh was booked when he appeared to win the ball, which
sparked an aggrieved reaction from the home fans. Tempers flared further when
words were exchanged between Morrison and Kei Kamara, Barton also got involved
and all three earned a place in the referee’s notebook.
The events had set up a grandstand finish, with ten minutes
remaining Albert Adomah cut in from the right but the Boro winger was denied by
Green at his near post.
With the match in the balance up came five minutes of injury
time. Boro appeared to have snatched all three points when the ball dropped to
Friend inside the crowded Rangers box, he made a clean connection but his shot whistled
the wrong side of the post.
Then just like that the game flipped on its head, a back
pass from Kenneth Omeruo to his keeper took a wicked bobble off the turf taking
it past the stranded Konstantopoulos presenting Rangers substitute Zamora a
routine tap-in.
Boro had little time to respond but as they pushed forward
the visitors pounced again, Morrison latched on to the loose ball inside the
Boro half and lashed it across goal into the roof of the net to seal all the
points for his side.
Player Ratings
Dimi Konstantopoulos
6.5- Solid game, caught out for second goal by unlucky bobble
Jozsef Varga 7-
Provided good secure cover at right back as Rangers struggled to break through
Ben Gibson 7-
Cleared the danger when he had to and saw out his duties
Kenneth Omeruo 7- Another
consistent performance at the heart of the defence
George Friend 7.5-
Mostly untroubled defensively, chose when to get forward and rewarded with a
goal
Dean Whitehead (C)
6.5- Gave protection to the back four in midfield
Nathaniel Chalobah 6-
Could have had more impact on the game as Rangers controlled midfield
Albert Adomah 6-
Tracked back well but was quite quiet going forward
Kei Kamara 5.5-
Looked out position on the left hand side
Jacob Butterfield 7-
Got in to some good forward positions, replaced after an hour
Danny Graham 5.5-
Struggled upfront on his own and had little effect on the game
Subs
Lee Tomlin 6- Replaced
Butterfield with half an hour to go
Emmanuel Ledesma – Came on for the last two minutes not
enough time to give a fair rating
My Boro Man Of The Match: George Friend
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