Boro execute Pulis plan and shut out free-scoring Leeds
When even a manager of the pedigree of Marcelo Bielsa calls Tony Pulis a legend of English football, it is a sign the Middlesbrough manager’s reputation precedes him. As even a newcomer to the Championship like Bielsa knows, it was built on games like this.
As Middlesbrough’s phalanx of six-footers kept a clean sheet in a disjointed, niggly affair, it was typical Pulis, unexciting but undeniably effective.
Leeds were stifled in a stalemate. Middlesbrough were obdurate and awkward. There was no separating the Championship’s top two and no doubt the visitors were the more content. “We’ll be the happier,” said the Boro midfielder Adam Clayton.
It may have been a draw, but Pulis, the recipient of Bielsa’s surprise pre-match tribute, won the clash of philosophies. “Bielsa plays the way Bielsa plays,” he said. “It is not unlike what Man City do.” But Leeds were unable to play like City, as the pragmatist Pulis imposed his style on the purist Bielsa’s team.
A match with more bookings than shots on target even included a caution for one of Bielsa’s backroom staff, Pablo Quiroga. It was a sign of Leeds’ irritation as Middlesbrough became the first side to stop them from scoring in the league.
“They were very difficult to face,” said Bielsa. “The physical challenge was special.” It made it all the odder when his rather smaller side came closest to scoring from a set-piece. Luke Ayling met Barry Douglas’s corner with an emphatic header that Clayton cleared off the line.
But it was Boro’s lone lapse. They have now gone 503 minutes without conceding in the league and Pulis added: “When you come to the big clubs, you have to be resilient. Defensively, we were very good.”
Leeds only tested goalkeeper Darren Randolph twice. Boro’s Jonny Howson, born in Leeds and their former captain, threatened to condemn them to defeat with a weaving run, followed by a curling shot that Bailey Peacock-farrell parried. Pulis then rued a header Aden Flint missed and complained Britt Assombalonga was denied a penalty in a tug of war with Liam Cooper.
Pulis had made two signings before kick-off, bringing in Wolves defender Danny Batth and Millwall midfielder George Saville on loan deals, but failed in a bid to get Aston Villa winger Albert Adomah. “We missed out on two we were desperate to get, both forwards with pace. At 4 o’clock, the two of them faded away,” he added. By 10 o’clock, however, Boro’s defenders had defined their day.