MIDDLESBROUGH ......................................................... 1 Boro hang on to beat the Blades
MATCH STATS
RUDY Gestede headed Middlesbrough to their first win of the Sky Bet Championship season as Sheffield United were denied a late leveller in their 1-0 defeat on Teesside.
Gestede, who managed just one Premier League goal along Boro’s road to relegation following his arrival from Aston Villa in January, proved he should be a valuable asset at this level, from which new Riverside boss Garry Monk has been charged with escaping at the first attempt.
League One champions United showed flashes of inspiration – rolling the dice late on with the substitute deployment of returning club favourite Ched Evans – and they even thought Jack O’Connell had salvaged a point at the death.
A controversial offside call decided otherwise, however, and now the Blades are left devising new ways to break through stubborn defences following their campaign of plunder in the third tier.
Monk made four changes, introducing Gestede, Patrick Bamford, Dael Fry and Adam Forshaw for a clutch of the players who lost at Wolves last week.
Summer signing Martin Braithwaite, having experienced a niggle in training, was among those to drop out entirely. It was the same United side that beat Brentford on the opening day and the promoted Blades appeared keen to shock again, with Kieron Freeman slipping in Leon Clarke for an early chance that was dutifully blocked. John Fleck also got through to test Darren Randolph but Boro absorbed the scares and began controlling the tempo. Bamford was embarrassed when his free-kick sailed into the south stand, but the former Chelsea striker kept his head up and set about craftily dragging the United backline out of shape. His work paid dividends in the 21st minute as, with the Blades scrambling to clear, Bamford’s lofted assist met Gestede for a header that looped over Jamal Blackman and into the net. An unmarked George Friend might have done better when attacking a corner yet the Boro pressure kept mounting and Bamford and £15m addition Britt Assombalonga were soon found falling over each other in clumsy bids to smash home from the byline. Gestede used