AGNEW ENCOURAGED BY BORO’S BATTLERS
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 MANCHESTER UTD 3: POSITIVES FOR INTERIM BOSS, AND A RARE GOAL!
Interim boss Steve Agnew was encouraged by a battling display from Middlesbrough yesterday – despite succumbing to a 3-1 Riverside defeat to Manchester United.
Marouane Fellaini’s header and a fine Jesse Lingard effort had Boro 2-0 down before sub Rudy Gestede pulled one back, capitalising on dreadful defending to fire past David de Gea.
But United sealed victory with a late Antonio Valencia strike, leaving Boro in second-bottom spot.
.Ex-Sunderland midfielder Agnew, in charge since the dismissal of Aitor Karanka on Thursday, remains convinced his team will get the points they need when they face the teams around them in the relegation fight.
He said: “To push Manchester United all the way was something that I was really pleased with.
“At 2-0, that’s when the players showed their fighting spirit. The crowd played a massive part.
“We deserved the goal and, on the balance of play at the time, although there wasn’t long to go, I could only see us equalising.
“I have every confidence and every belief, all the work that goes in behind the scenes with the staff and the players, that we are more than capable of winning football matches. The performance was intense, it was everything you want in terms of commitment.
“Of course we have got to start winning football matches, but I have been in this league before and I know that one game, one win, three points can change everything.”
Gestede’s goal ended Boro’s 710-minute wait for a Premier League goal.
“It is a relief to get a goal, but we didn’t quite get a bounce of the ball and the equaliser,” said Agnew. “It’s a pleasure to be in charge of a team and see them respond like they did.I know in the coming games we’ll take that same fighting spirit.”
Meanwhile, Gestede insists there was no bite from him or Eric Bailly during a clash between the pair towards the end of the match.
There were some unseemly scenes, with United 2-1 up, as players clashed following a coming together between Boro’s goalscorer and United defender Bailly.
Ben Gibson thought Boro team-mate Gestede had been bitten, but the striker has denied any talk of there being a bite from either of them.
“We had a few words together, it was nothing major,” the striker said. “He gave me a hug and a kiss, that’s it. I didn’t feelanything.Benthoughthe bit me, so that’s why he reacted like he did. But I told him now we were just talking, there was no problem.”
Tempers frayed again in the tunnel at the end – something neither United manager Jose Mourinho nor Agnew shed any light on. However, United defender Phil Jones said: “I think it was a bit of frustration creeping in on their behalf.
“It is a difficult situation, I was in it with Blackburn so I know how they feel. When emotions are high these things happen but it was something and nothing.”