Arnautovic’s double pushes Boro into drop zone
MIDDLESBROUGHdroppedrelegation zone intoas Markothe Arnautovic’s first- half brace condemned them to defeat at Stoke. Boro fell behind in the 29th minute via a fine strike from Arnautovic, who then added a closerange finish three minutes before half-time. The Teesside outfit, who are winless in 10 league matches and have failedfour, 18th arein to scorethe down table,in a their place withlast to Crystal Palace moving up to 17th and three points clear of them with a 2- 0 win at West Brom. Boro’s major problem is a lack of goals – they are the lowest scorers in the division, with a tally of just 19 for the season so far. nd while there was a disallowed goal for Ben Gibson in the second half, Aitor Karanka’s side rarely looked like scoring – and they might have lost by more, with Ramadan Sobhi hitting the bar early on and having a late header well saved by Victor Valdes.
It was hardly a surprise to hear some booing at the final whistle from the travelling fans.
In a bid to aid Boro’s problems in attack, Karanka replaced Alvaro Negredo with January signing Rudy Gestede among five changes to the starting XI.
Karanka was then forced to make an early adjustment at the back as Daniel Ayala limped off, with Bernardo Espinosa coming on.
Stoke almost took the lead six minutes later when a great passing move ended with Sobhi meeting Arnautovic’s cross with a shot that came back off the bar.
There was an opportunity for Karanka’s men in the 25th minute when Marten de Roon burst into the Stoke box, but his shot was well blocked by Geoff Cameron – and, soon after, Boro were a goal down.
Glenn Whelan sent a long ball forward and
Arnautovic did excellently to control it, get away from George Friend and past Valdes and fire into the net.
As Boro attempted to make a positive response, captain Grant Leadbitter’s strike from outside the area flew narrowly off target after taking a big deflection.
But, three minutes later, they conceded once more, with their defending again questionable.
Peter Crouch rose above Bernardo as a corner came in and directed a header towards goal that was hooked in by Arnautovic.
Boro began the second half with forward Cristhian Stuani having been introduced for Gaston Ramirez.
They had the ball in the net around the hour mark when Gibson tapped in, but with the flag raised for offside – much to Karanka’s dismay.
Arnautovic’s impressive display came to an end in the 65th minute as he was forced off by injury, Mame Diouf being sent on in his place.
But Stoke continued to look the more likely side to score and, in the 84th minute, Sobhi headed goalwards and Valdes just managed to save it.