Middlesbrough 2 - West Bromwich Albion 2

Dave Watkin:

Albion were good value for a point in an exciting match played in appalling conditions at the Riverside.

Bryan Robson picked an attacking side and the Baggies played in a positive manner as they more than matched their higher placed opponents in all aspects of the game.

Two men stood out. Thomasz Kuszczak made one outstanding save and several other vital stops to keep Albion in the game. Kanu was excellent throughout, behind most of Albion's best moves, he laid on the first goal and scored the second.

In the end Albion were only deprived of their first away win at Boro for over fifty years by a borderline penalty decision.

TEAM NEWS

Albion made just two changes, both expected, to the starting line-up. Paul Robinson returned from suspension in place of Martin Albrechtsen and Kanu took over from Geoff Horsfield, whom he replaced part-way through the record breaking win against Everton.

HIGHLIGHTS

Albion ran the game for the first ten minutes. We retained possession, camped in their half and won three corners, before, almost inevitably, Middlesbrough scored with their first sustained attack in the 12th minute.

The ball was fed in to VIDUKA on the edge of the Albion box by Boateng, but when the Australian attempted a 1-2 back to him he got a lucky rebound off a defender's leg to set him up for a shot, which he coolly placed just inside the post with the outside of his right boot.

The lead lasted only six minutes and the Baggies equaliser was not dissimilar to the opening goal. A Paul Robinson free kick reached Ellington on the right of the penalty area and his attempted 1-2 with Kanu was intercepted by a defender. Kanu reacted quickly, won a tackle and the ball rolled perfectly to NATHAN ELLINGTON, who cracked home a right footed shot into the far bottom corner of the net.

Midway through the half a Boro free kick found Pogatetz unmarked near the penalty spot. His free header looked a certain goal, until Tomasz Kuszczak threw himself to his left to make a magnificent save, pushing the ball around the post. Albion had Kuszczak to thank again when he tipped a fierce thirty yard drive from Rochemback over the bar.

At the start of the second half, the Baggies were forced to bring on Martin Albrechtsen as a straight replacement for injured Steve Watson.

In the 57th minute Albion scored the goal-of-the-game with a brilliant breakaway move in which they swept the length of the field at pace. A Boro corner was headed away by Neil Clement and nodded on by Jonathan Greening to Diomansy Kamara who hit a superb crossfield ball to none other than left back Paul Robinson racing clear down the right wing! Robbo took his time before playing an accurate pass inside to Kanu, positioned just outside the D of the penalty area. Faced with at least four defenders, KANU simply stepped inside the nearest one and stroked a precision shot low into the bottom corner of the net.

Just after the hour Bryan Robson brought on Darren Carter for Kamara but then in the 66th minute Middlesbrough netted an equaliser in controversial circumstances. The home side flung in a hopeful cross ball and as Nemeth went for a header Robinson clumsily barged him in the back. The referee instantly awarded a penalty, leaving us to wonder whether he would have been as quick to react had the incident been at the other end of the pitch. YAKUBU stepped up to calmly send the keeper the wrong way from the spot.

The Baggies could have been trailing minutes later had Kuszczak not reacted quickly to twist and make a brilliant one handed save when an off target shot took a wicked deflection goalwards.

The final quarter-of-an-hour saw some thrilling end-to-end football as both sides went all out for a late winner. In front of the travelling support the Baggies were foiled on three separate occasions. Firstly, a thunderous drive from Darren Carter was blocked at point-blank range by a defender, then Ronnie Wallwork curled a shot around several defenders only for Schwarzer to parry the ball and finally Jonathan Greening cut in from the left and hit a low narrow angled shot which almost grazed the far post.

In the end Albion had to settle for a point from an unexpectedly thrilling encounter.

ALBION FORMRATE : VERY GOOD

MEN-OF-THE-MATCH : TOMASZ KUSZCZAK and KANU

AND FINALLY

At 2-1 Albion were not only on course for our first away win in Middlesbrough since 1951-52, but looking to equal or better our biggest away win in the town, also 2-1, over a century ago in our first league meeting on 12th October 1901.

In the end we picked up our first away point against Boro since 1989-90 and equalled our highest scoring draw, back in 1903-04.

Kev Buckley:

An away draw with a competent mid-table side who have just qualified for the next stage of a European competiton probably looks, at first sight, to be yet more evidence of movement in the right direction, yet for those who were there, as well as concuring with that evidence, this will surely be seen as a game that Albion could have won.

To be fair, as the conditions worsened it was both there for the taking and there for the giving away so perhaps to end up sharing the points wasn't all that bad an outcome but with a little more second half commitment, both in getting players forwards in support of the strikers and to ensuring that the pass in advanced position found a team mate and we'd have wrapped the game up.

Albion, with Robinson displacing Albrectsen from the line-up that finally started looking decent against Everton, had certainly started the brighter yet found themselves behind after twelve minutes when three players reacted to Viduka's half of a one-two on the egde of the box, only to find that he'd chosen to stop after the one and then placed a lovely shot beyond Kuszczack.

Not seemingly dispirited, Albion kept on pressing, though surprising not down the right, this area of the pitch seemingly out-of-bounds in most of todays's game, though having said that there were some really neat interchanging of short passes down the rather congsted left to make up for the apparent inability, or perhaps unfathomable desire, to spread the play right.

Even allowing for the pressing though, the equaliser came as someting of a shock. Boro seemed to be clearing the ball only for Kanu, at the heart of nearly everything decent we did, stuck out a leg to block the ball into the path of Ellington who finished with a fine cross-shot.

If the marking for Viduka's goal had been poor, it dropped to zero at one point as a Boro forward stood all alone on the penalty spot and had headed goalwards and started celebrating before Kuszcak somehow pulled off a magnificent diving save to deny him and earn himself the acknowledgement from Viduka and the well below quota travelling support. That save alone should see him keep his place, especially as he kept his feet inside the box when handlng the ball this week, and he had to do a fair deal of handling but he also played a part in keeping out a sure-fire Boro goal shortly after they'd been gifted the equaliser second-half.

Half-time saw the swapping of the reluctant to get forwards Watson with Albrechtsen, though even the introduction of the more more pacey and attack-minded Dane hadly served to alter the pattern of "play down the Albion left if at all possible" that has characterised the first half.

Imagine the surprise then to find that, following a break-out after a period of Boro pressure, it should be Paul Robsinson, as equally as loathe to get forwards on the left as Watson had been on the right, was sent clear down the RIGHT-HAND flank and delivered possibly the most accurate attacking pass from any player other than Kanu all day, in setting the Nigerian up to first check off his left foot and then drive the ball home with his right from a spot, edge of the box, close to where Viduka had done earlier.

With a pitch that looked pretty wet before the start now made well slick by the constant rainfall, mistakes abounded at both ends, some of the heading from Clement being especially comical, yet Albion, well mostly Kanu, still seemed to be getting the ball forwards half-decently, however many of the forward movements came to nothing as the more attack-minded of the players from the first half simply seemed to lose their way. Ellington started to try and dribble through four or five and just ened up losing posession when a pass, on the few times there was one availble of course, seemed a better bet and Inamoto pretty well disappared as an attacking force as did Kamara who was subbed for Carter.

Before that change, Boro had got back into the game when a defender simply jumped into the back of an attacker as the ball was delivered into the box and handed the home side a penalty on a plate.

With the game poised at 2-2, Boro brought on Jimmy Floyd Hasslebank for Viduka in a change obvioulsy designed to try and win the game whereas Albion's two remaning outfield subs, both forwards in Earnshaw and Horsefield, were to stay unused despite the fact that the game still seemed there to be won. Surely trying Earnshaw's turn of pace for the obviously knackered Ellington for the last fifteen on a greasy top with defenders turning to chase Kanu, who probed to the end, might have brought benefit. Alas it was to be yet another non-appearnce for last season's top scorer.

As it was, Greening, having one of his off days in cross-delivery terms, still had a cross-shot that whilstled past the far post, Carter found time to ruin the next most promisisng attack with a pass he simply rolled to the closest defender and any number of other potential break-outs came to a halt as Robinson refused to advance with the ball at his feet, though for popping up on the right to deliver the ball for Kanu, he can probably be excused this once.

As for thse not yet mentioned, Davies looked composed at times but suffered from the same greasy-ball maladies that affected most of the defenders, Wallwork looked good first half but disppeared into the same midfield rabbit-hole that Imamoto obvioulsy fell down second-half but still had enough wits about him to cut out a real danger moment near the end as well as have a shot blocked.

Hard to complain about a draw at 'Boro' really but we could, and I think should have won this one, and with two of the sides around us picking up all three points against higher opposition and so ending the weekend above us, this does feel a little bit like two lost, though just to be saying that given the run of results, if not the performances prior to the Everton game shows just what might yet be achieved.

For Fulham, I'd start with the side that started the second half here though I wouldn't waste Earnshaw's pace for yet another 90 minutes, and with Man City and Pompey to come, Xmas might not be such a bad time after all - assuming that you can avoid all the tinsel and carol-singing, of course.

robsqu:

Living and working in the Gulf, I have just watched the game on satellite courtesy of the ART network. Last week was good but this week was much better, even though we didn't get the three points.

How many fans remember the old "Attack. Attack. Attack, attack, attack." chant? Well, that's what we did today and didn't it rattle Boro? We actually looked like we wanted to win rather than play for the draw and that's got to count for something. Too many fans have argued for too long that we can't play a defensive game - we always collapse towards the end - and I have to agree. We have always been at our best going forward. A breath of fresh air seeing the lads take the game to the opposition for a change. We could so easily have won this one too. Chances went begging and if Greening had been a little more accurate with his crosses and Ellington just a tadge less greedy things could have been so different. Still, it was great to see Greening approach his form of last year and for Ellington to be brimming with confidence. And that man Kanu was here there and everywhere, holding when necesssary, laying off balls and scoring a great goal himself too. He gets better every game. Robbo has to give the Kanu/Ellington partnership time to flourish.

All the team played well and battled hard. Shame about the decision going against Robinson but it was a careless jump. Well done the Baggies. If we continue to play like this then we will move up the table.