Dan’s the man for Boro yet again
MIDDLESBROUGH have gained the upperhand in the battle for a playoff place, and if they can finish off the job then Daniel Ayala deserves special praise for his part in it.
For the third game in a row the Spanish defender found the net to take his season tally to seven, proving his worth once again at both ends of the pitch and dent Bristol City’s own promotion bid.
Ayala’s winner 22 minutes from time proved enough to secure three points for the second week in a row at the Riverside, lifting Middlesbrough up to fifth.
With games against Derby and Millwall over the next fortnight, it means Boro can go into those more confident after the midweek disappointment of losing to Sheffield United behind them.
The only negative for Middlesbrough was that Patrick Bamford had to go to hospital after being laid out cold after a challenge from Aden Flint, leading to an 11-minute delay.
Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis said: “Patrick’s in the dressing room now taking some stick off the players so he’s fine. He went down either winded or he’s hit his head but he’s fine.
“We’ve spoken about not getting uptight and that’s what the players have to do embrace the challenge. They’re fortunate lads, these are great games to play in and manage and that’s the attitude they must have, roll your sleeves up, puff your chest out, work your socks off when you don’t have the ball.
“Daniel Ayala has scored again too, and now George Friend is getting in on the act by scoring as well… Hopefully we can keep it going.”
While Middlesbrough climbed back into the top six, the Robins have lost further ground and now face an uphill battle because of the four point gap that exists to the final spot.
Bristol City actually took the lead when Milan Djuric got in between Ayala and Friend to volley inside the far corner in the ninth minute. Marlon Pack had created the chance by beating Mo Besic for a header.
Lee Johnson, the Bristol City manager, said: “We’ve conceded two poor goals. We talked about being good in flow, but also in the clutch phase dealing with corners, set-pieces but that’s where we failed.
“We’ve had a few decent chances, Bobby Reid had a decent opportunity to be clinical but we just couldn’t find that second goal.
“We had Lloyd Kelly, a 19year-old academy graduate, against the fastest player in world football [Traore], so we had to give him plenty of help.
“We’ve got to give it a right go to win the last three games, you’ve seen we’re capable of doing that. We’ve got three winnable games if we’re at it, but we have to have as many players at 8/9 from 10 to do that.”
Middlesbrough had more of the ball. They levelled nine minutes after the opener when Friend rose in the area to glance Adama Traore’s corner beyond Frank Fielding.
Fielding didn’t have too many saves to make despite Middlesbrough’s greater possession. Just when it seemed the game might end level, another Traore corner was headed in by Ayala despite Josh Brownhill’s best efforts on the line.
Before that Brownhill saw an effort blocked by Friend and Bobby Reid powered a volley over the bar in stoppage-time.