A share of the spoils was how Rovers’ trip to the Riverside ended, as the home side fought back with 10 men, to secure a point, thanks to Britt Assombalonga’s thunderbolt, which cancelled out Charlie Mulgrew’s first-half free-kick.
During his pre-match press conference, Tony Mowbray encouraged his side to continue the fine display that they showed a week ago, against Sheffield Wednesday, despite the high league position of this week’s hosts. The gaffer also warned, that despite his lifetime support towards Middlesbrough, he reiterated that his concentration and allegiances were firmly with Rovers for this game.
The Rovers manager named an unchanged team as he looked to keep the momentum going following last Saturday’s emphatic win. Although Darragh Lenihan and Amari’i Bell were deemed fit to return after they had both missed last week’s game, the pair were only on the bench as Paul Downing and Derrick Williams were given the opportunity to further impress. Elliott Bennett, who missed last week’s victory, was again out of contention after he had picked up a metatarsal injury during the week.
The match was started by Boro who were aiming to get back to winning ways following a draw and a defeat in their last couple of games.
Early in the encounter, the hosts earnt a corner that was aimed at Aden Flint who was dominating the Rovers box with his presence. Fortunately for Rovers, Corry Evans was alive to clear the ball away from inside the 6-yard area.
With 9 minutes gone, Jordan Hugill nearly found himself with the perfect opportunity to put the hosts ahead early on after he got on the end of Stewart Downing’s cross. The veteran’s delivery bounced in-front of Hugill, but the West Ham loanee couldn’t make a connection on the ball as Derrick Williams was on-hand to clear the danger out for a corner, which came to nothing.
On the 14th minute, Bradley Dack nearly stamped his authority on the game after he released a shot from the edge of the area, which initially looked to have been going in, however Dack’s effort was deflected behind for a corner, which also came to nothing.
4 minutes after Rovers’ uneventful corner, Ryan Shotton found himself in the book following a poor challenge on Williams.
After 21 minutes were played, the game burst into life, after Dack was played through on goal, with only Darren Randolph in the Boro goal, to beat. As the playmaker charged towards goal, he was taken down by Muhamed Bešić, who forced Dack to slow down by pulling his shirt, from around 25-yards out. Following a discussion by referee Simon Hooper and his assistants, the man in black showed the Bosnian a straight red card, before awarding Rovers a free-kick, which Charlie Mulgrew stood up to take.
It took only seconds from the red mist descending, to the Rovers travelling fans celebrating as Charlie Mulgrew superbly dispatched his free-kick, around the wall and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net as he put Rovers 1-0 up.
With just under half-an-hour gone, Rovers had a corner, which came following a cleared Mulgrew free-kick. The corner, fell to Harrison Reed whose strike whistled narrowly wide of Randolph’s post.
With the hosts down to 10-men, Boro manager Tony Pulis altered his game plan as forward, Ashley Fletcher, was replaced by 23-year old midfielder, Lewis Wing, in a change of shape for the home side.
A minute after Boro’s change of formation, Paul Downing couldn’t keep his header down as he nearly doubled Rovers’ advantage from Reed’s corner. Unluckily for the centre-back, his nod didn’t dip enough, as the ball went behind for a goal-kick.
With 37 minutes gone, Daniel Ayala’s crucial interception saved Rovers from potentially going 2-0 up from Danny Graham’s shot. A pull-back by Reed fell straight to Graham whose attempted shot was cancelled out by Ayala’s strong block, as the ball bounced away from goal before being cleared.
George Friend, on the 40th minute, tried his luck from range, but saw his effort balloon over the bar.
On the 42nd minute, Danny Graham had a shot saved, before Corry Evans’ rebound was miscued wide, much to the annoyance of the away fans.
Prior to 2 minutes of added time being added onto the clock, Friend was booked for diving, midway through the Rovers’ half.
Despite the added time, there was not much action as Simon Hooper soon called an end to the first-half.
The half-time break would have seen very different reactions from both managers in their respective dressing rooms, following the controversial sending-off of Bešić, which would have led to some tactical changes, specifically from Tony Pulis.
The Boro manager’s reaction to the first-half would have seen teacups flying around the dressing room due to his frustration regarding his side’s poor first-half display, not factoring in his anger regarding the sending off.
In contrast, Boro legend, Tony Mowbray, would have been delighted with his team’s application, hunger and desire in order to first gain, then maintain the lead, despite the hostility of the home crowd and the rigidity of Boro, following the red card.
As both sides re-emerged for the second-half, before Rovers had the chance to kick-off, Boro made their final couple of changes in order to try and get back into the game. Adam Clayton and Stewart Downing were the pair to depart, as George Saville and Britt Assombalonga replaced them.
On the 51st minute, the home side nearly got themselves back in the game through Assombalonga. A Jonny Howson cross was met by the substitute, but his header ended up in Raya’s hands.
Minutes later, Rovers nearly doubled their lead through consecutive shots by both, Dack and Conway, but Randolph and his woodwork were on hand to deny the boys in yellow. Dack’s shot from the edge of the area looked destined to nestle into the bottom corner but cannoned off the post before falling into Conway’s path, who struck a curling effort, which Randolph did well to stop.
Soon after his attempt hit the post, Dack found himself booked, following a tackle on Shotton.
With Rovers seemingly on the back-foot, Boro countered through Hugill who burst away from the centre-circle and closed down on goal. Despite ending up in the box, Hugill was denied the shot by a magnificent well-timed tackle by Mulgrew, who had tracked the loanee’s run and dispossessed him of the ball at the crucial moment, before he pulled the trigger.
On the 62nd minute, all Rovers’ hard-work came undone after Assombalonga fired in a magnificent effort from the top of the box, into the top right-hand corner of Rovers’ goal. The former Nottingham Forest man picked the ball up after Hugill’s lay-off, before rifling the ball into the top corner to make it 1-1, as he wheeled away in celebration.
As the clocked ticked over into the 70th minute, Rovers decided to make some changes in an attempt to shift into a more attacking position. Adam Armstrong and Joe Rothwell were drafted in to replace Craig Conway and Richie Smallwood, who both made their way to the bench.
With 77 minutes gone, Harrison Reed tried his luck from range, which Darren Randolph did well to parry away, before it was cleared.
Straight from the clearance, Assombalonga saw his shot blocked, from inside the box, by Ryan Nyambe, who flung himself in-front of the goalscorer.
On the 79th minute, Ryan Shotton’s long-throw was flicked on and behind by Aden Flint, who was looking to claim an assist, however Assombalonga, who was the intended target, didn’t manage to get on the end of the flick, as he missed out on what would have been a certain goal.
With 6 minutes left on the clock, Armstrong was fed through by Dack, but couldn’t get his shot away thanks to another good interception by Ayala. The substitute received the ball from Dack before bursting into the area and lining up a shot, which then saw Ayala slide in perfectly to touch the ball behind for a corner, which came to nothing.
In the midst of the corner being sorted, Rovers made their final change as Harrison Reed was withdrawn and replaced by Ben Brereton.
On the 86th minute, Assombalonga got a hold of the ball after a mistake by Paul Downing and sped into the box, before flicking the ball over Raya. Although the move looked well devised by the lone striker, his finish was a poor one, as it lacked the power to land into the net, as Downing quickly recovered in order to clear.
As the clock ticked over into the 90, Simon Hooper added 3 minutes onto the end of the game.
The final act of the game saw Bradley Dack’s long-range drive well held by Randolph who led on the ball in order to waste some time.
From the clearance by the ‘keeper, the referee called an end to the game, which ended with honours even.
This share of the spoils at the Riverside is a result which has been split into various way by the fans, following the full-time whistle. Some percentage of the support believe that this point was a good one, despite leading against 10 men, whereas, in contrast, another section believe Rovers should have come away from the game with all 3 points, following the number of chances squandered throughout the game.
What one has to take into perspective, is the scenario that the game was in. Would anyone in Blue and White, have expected that Rovers could have gone to the Riverside and comfortably beat a side, who have been sat in the playoffs for a majority of the season? If any, it would have been only a handful. Despite Rovers’ increasing number of attempts at goal throughout the game, their goal ultimately came from a set-piece which could have easily been waved away or missed by Mulgrew. Furthermore, it can be argued that the red card played into Boro and Tony Pulis’ hands, as they were given the opportunity to simply play out the rest of the game on the counter-attack, which eventually allowed them a route back into the game, and despite their resilience in defence, and their goal, Middlesbrough never really created anything that would have caused David Raya a lot of trouble.
Following on from the emphatic victory against Sheffield Wednesday, Rovers showed the attacking prowess in this game, that served them well in their victory, 7 days ago. Although they weren’t as clinical as they were at Ewood, Rovers displayed some good attacking play which, at times, carved open Middlesbrough’s increasingly weary defence, but ultimately, couldn’t find the goal, that would have guaranteed the 3 points for Tony Mowbray on his return to his boyhood club.
With that respectable point secured and due to results elsewhere, Rovers have dropped down to 11th in the league, but find themselves with 30 points and a negative 4 goal difference from 21 games played.
Rovers now enter their festive calendar with a whole host of difficult fixtures coming up on the horizon. They face back-to-back home games against Birmingham City (15th December at 3pm) and Norwich City (22nd December at 3pm), before a Boxing Day bash away at Elland Road to face Leeds United, which is also a 3pm kick-off.
