Rovers’ poor run of form ahead of the Sky Sports cameras was broken, as Tony Mowbray left his hometown of Middlesbrough with three points, after a 1-0 win, in a tight game that saw Rovers start a new unbeaten run.
Following their eight-day absence after Tuesday’s home clash against Swansea City was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Ewood Park, Tony Mowbray made one change to the side that snatched a late 1-1 draw at home to Stoke City, last Saturday. Jacob Davenport came into the side off the back of impressive cameo appearances, in-place of Bradley Dack who was still re-gaining match fitness. Joe Rothwell was making his 50th league start for Rovers as Mowbray’s side reverted to a 4-3-3 system.
After the pre-match rituals were undergone, as Rovers took the knee whereas ‘Boro abstained, it was Rovers who kicked the game off in the hope of trying to get back to winning ways after failing to taste victory since the 2-0 away win at Birmingham City.
Rovers managed to craft the game’s first opportunity on the fifth minute. The visitors managed to win a deep throw-in and apply pressure on the home side before Joe Rothwell found Barry Douglas on the overlap. The Scot crept into the box and teed the ball up for Armstrong who tried to place the ball into the far right-hand corner, but the shot dragged wide of the mark.
Rovers were forced into an early change in the ninth minute as Bradley Johnson was withdrawn due to an injury which deemed him unable to continue. On in his place came John Buckley, who scored the equaliser against Stoke City, as he came in as a straight swap for the experienced midfielder.
The 14th minute saw two Boro penalty shouts waved away by referee Dean Whitestone. The first came from a Boro corner as Lewis Travis and Britt Assombalonga decided to take part in some ballroom dancing in the box. Some pushing and pulling between the pair eventually saw Assombalonga hit the deck, before the appeals were dismissed much to Boro’s disapproval. The second incident came at a much worse cost as Boro’s defender Dael Fry was forced to come off with a terrible face injury which saw him look like a UFC fighter, post-fight. An in-swinging free-kick saw Fry jump up to try and connect with the ball, but although his nod fell wide of the mark, he went down in a heap off the back of being hit in the face by Jarrad Branthwaite’s boot. Following a lengthy period of stoppage as Fry received treatment, the defender was replaced by Nathan Wood.
The game’s first booking came in the 26th minute as Jacob Davenport brought down Assombalonga on the edge of the area, after a mistake by Branthwaite saw the ball break loose. It was Assmobalonga who stood up to take the set piece, but the Congolese forward’s free-kick went straight down the throat of Thomas Kaminski who could only parry the ball behind for a corner. The subsequent corner fell to former Wigan Athletic midfielder, Sam Morsy, but the Egyptian’s volley trickled wide of the goal.
Middlesbrough’s set-pieces were beginning to pose a threat for Rovers, as Marc Bola and George Saville combined to come within inches of sending Boro into the break with the lead. A corner was cleared by Rovers only as far as Bola. The former Arsenal academy graduate managed to line-up a low driven shot that looked to be arrowing towards the bottom corner, but his teammate Saville tried to make sure of its trajectory by deflecting the flight path of the ball via his shin. Sadly, for the home duo, neither effort managed to breach Rovers’ clean sheet as the ball swerved behind for a goal-kick, despite the fact that Kaminski was left scrambling.
The relatively quiet first-half, which had more injuries and substitutions than goalmouth action, soon came to an end with Boro ending the first period in the ascendency despite Rovers’ early dominance.
Neil Warnock would have been pleased with how his side had evolved over the course of the half, given they had ended it the stronger of the two sides. The 72-year old would have been happy with how his side had gone from fighting off early pressure, to being able to dominate proceedings and halt Rovers’ quick counter-attacks. The Boro boss, who himself is a qualified referee, however, would have been fuming with the team of officials after they failed to give his side a penalty for the Branthwaite challenge on Fry, which forced the defender off.
Tony Mowbray, on the other hand, would have had mixed feelings at the break. The former Boro player would have been satisfied that his side had managed to storm the late pressure by the home side, but he would have been disappointed that they failed to create more than just the one opportunity at goal, which came through Armstrong early on.
After both sides were briefed prior to the second period, it was the home side who got the game back underway, as Boro tried to build on their positive end to the first-half, in order to try and claim back-to-back victories, after they beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 at the City Ground, last time out.
Boro got the first chance of the second-half through Marcus Tavernier on the 48th minute. Some fairly sloppy Rovers defending saw the Boro winger create an angle of space inside Branthwaite before firing towards Kaminski’s near-post, however the Belgian was on-hand to parry the ball behind for a corner. From the corner, Tavernier was able to craft another opportunity, but the second chance veered wide of the left-hand post.
The 56th minute saw the game’s second booking given to Sam Morsy, after the midfielder hauled down Lewis Travis after the Rovers man drove in deep into the Boro half.
The hour mark saw the post deny Boro from taking the lead from a corner in the game’s best chance. Britt Assombalonga managed to connect with the delivery, but produced a fine reaction save from Thomas Kaminski, as the Belgian kept Rovers’ clean sheet intact. Despite the save, Kaminski could only parry the ball as far as substitute Nathan Wood who only needed to tap the ball between Ryan Nyambe and the post in order to give his side the lead, however the central defender showed why he was a defender and not a striker, as his first-time effort cannoned back off the post.
Two minute later, Rovers managed to make Boro pay for not finishing their chances as Mowbray’s men went up the other end and took the lead following a brilliantly worked goal. Adam Armstrong and Harvey Elliott combined with a one-two as the former laid the latter off with a pass that got him behind the Middlesbrough backline. The Liverpool loanee had the technique to keep the move alive and skip past his marker before squaring the ball across the box into the path of the incoming Joe Rothwell who had the composure to slot the ball underneath the despairing Marcus Bettinelli in order to give Rovers a priceless 1-0 lead.
Just prior to the restart, Rovers made a triple change which also brought a change in system. Bradley Dack, Ben Brereton and Sam Gallagher were all introduced as goalscorer Joe Rothwell, assister Harvey Elliott and first-half substitute John Buckley, were all withdrawn. From that change, Rovers switched into a 4-2-3-1, to allow Dack to fill in, in the #10 role behind Armstrong.
The 71st minute nearly saw Rovers double their advantage as Armstrong’s low cross broke to Barry Douglas, but the full-back’s effort from yards out was blazed over the bar.
Boro made two changes in reaction to Rovers’ increasing dominance. Ashley Fletcher and Marvin Johnson were introduced as Sam Morsy and Duncan Watmore were taken off.
Armstrong came agonisingly close to grabbing his second goal of 2021. Brereton managed to win the ball back high up the pitch and feed the forward who broke in-behind the Boro backline. Although Armstrong bore down on goal with only Bettinelli to beat, he decided to go for the chip, rather than another shot type which allowed Bettinelli to bring up his huge right hand and deny the forward, Rovers’ second.
Marcus Tavernier was booked in the 79th minute after he handled the ball in an attempt to stop a Rovers counter-attack after he slipped and injured himself in the process.
That proved to be Tavernier’s last action of the game as moments after receiving his booking, Manchester City loanee, Patrick Roberts, came on to replace him.
An 84th minute counter-attack by Rovers saw Dack slide Gallagher in down the right-hand side. The substitute did well to get down the wing before picking out Armstrong with a low cross. The forward managed to stop the ball and line up his shot, but he couldn’t keep it down as it flew over the crossbar.
Rovers’ final change came seconds after Armstrong’s miss as Jacob Davenport was forced off due to injury after he was clattered inside Rovers’ box moments prior to the Armstrong chance. The former Manchester City man was replaced by Norwich City loanee, Tom Trybull.
Marc Bola was booked for a foul on Bradley Dack in the 87th minute.
Despite some late pressure by Middlesbrough after six minutes of added time was allocated at the end of the 90 minutes, Rovers managed to hold out for a priceless victory which put them back in the playoff picture after securing back-to-back away wins for the first time since April 2019 and extending their unbeaten run to three games.
Whilst the game was not a classic by any means, it was a vital one for Rovers who managed to quell an underwhelming run of form and turn it into a base to work with, in just one result. Although Rovers could have probably counted themselves lucky to not have gone down to 10 men and conceded a penalty in the first-half, given the Branthwaite challenge on Fry, the fact the visitors persisted and took the one clear-cut chance that fell to them is ultimately what breaks the fine margins of the Championship. Although Rovers should have arguably had a couple more, after Armstrong missed two chances which could be classed as ‘sitters’ given his form thus far this season, the side were able to build on solid defensive foundations and a great performance by Kaminski in order to secure the much needed three points.
Although Rovers still have an extra game to play, following Tuesday’s postponement, the league table is looking a lot rosier after adding another three points to the tally. Mowbray’s men have moved up to 9th place and sit on 36 points and a positive goal-difference of +12, despite sitting six points behind the playoff places.
With the rescheduled Swansea City fixture’s date still unknown, Rovers’ are next back in action next Saturday (30th), where they will face Luton Town at Ewood Park at 3pm. As we move into February, Rovers make the long trip down to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium to face Mark Warburton’s Queens Park Rangers on Saturday 6th February at 3pm. After that tie, Rovers are back at Ewood Park, six days later, as they prepare for a Lancashire Derby with Preston North End, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports on Friday 12th February at 7:45pm.
