BIRMINGHAM 0
BRITT ASSOMBALONGA ruined Garry Monk’s return to the Riverside with his first goal of the season.
A second home win in a week kept unbeaten Middlesbrough top of the Championship table but Monk’s successor, Tony Pulis, reckoned his side should have coasted to victory as he stretched his unbeaten record against the Birmingham boss to four games.
Pulis said: “We should have won by five or six goals.
“The chances and opportunities that we created during the game were absolutely outstanding and I think we’ve hit the bar twice, hit the post twice and we’ve had one cleared off the line.
“The fans were fantastic again today and we’ve given them a game where we’ve created chance after chance. The disappointing thing is we’ve only scored one goal but I am really pleased.”
Assombalonga scored 15 goals for Boro last season after he was signed by Monk in a £15million BIG-SPENDING Bristol City saved their blushes with a late comeback after cashstrapped Bolton hit them with two goals in three minutes.
The Robins’ £2million signing Andreas Weimann led the fightback minutes after Bolton’s Will Buckley and then Josh Magennis had turned the tables with their out-of-the-blue strikes.
But with City lifting their game again, Jamie Paterson put home a decisive late leveller when he kept his head to hit a perfect rightfoot shot into a corner.
Certainly, the fightback pleased City’s assistant boss Dean Holden, who added: “In the end we could have won it. Overall, I don’t think it was a fair result, but you don’t always get what you deserve.”
“After that three minute spell with their goals, we showed character, stuck to our game plan, and got back into it. Weimann’s goal and performance was all the more impressive in that he was injured in the first half but soldiered on right to the end. Paterson is one of the best strikers around and his goal was something special to watch.”
Bolton boss Phil Parkinson (below) admitted: “If goal-line technology had not been introduced to the Championship, we might not have got it. But I’m not happy with their two goals.
“The first was clearly offside – and TV shows it – and for the second, David Wheater was pole-axed in the middle of the pitch, but no free-kick was given.”
In truth, City had dominated the attacking play throughout the first half, and had a penalty turned down early after the break when Niclas Eliasson went down – and was booked for diving.
Minutes later came Bolton’s shell-shock strikes – and that had its own drama. Buckley’s effort seemed to be headed off the line by Marlon Pack. But rookie ref John Brookes looked to his assistant, and consulted his goalline technology buzzer, which indicated that the ball had crossed.
Little contention about goal No.2 as unmarked new signing Magennis saw his chance and shot past stranded keeper Niki Maenpaa.
City commanded most of the attacking play in the first half, and it was clear which team had shelled out more than £11 million on players pre-season, with cash-strapped Bolton spending a mere £200,000 on Magennis.
Bolton seemed content to fall back under pressure, and they were hesitant and ineffectual up front.
Callum O’Dowda saw an angled cut-back kept out by the feet of keeper Ben Alnwick, who then tipped over a rising shot from Weimann. In the end, both teams sighed with relief with a point apiece.