IT’S UNLUCKY 13 FOR BOSS BRUCE
More woe in North East
STEVE BRUCE’S misery at West Brom continued as Marcus Tavernier sealed Middlesbrough’s seventh consecutive home win.
The West Brom boss is now four games into his reign and only has a draw to show, with no sign of a new manager bounce.
Bruce has managed 13 games this season – including nine for Newcastle, who sacked him in October – without tasting victory. Meanwhile, Chris Wilder has nine wins in 15 league games in charge of Boro, with just three defeats, and they are back in the top six.
At least Bruce sawWest Brom break their 479-minute goal drought by opening the scoring through Jayson Molumby.
And the Baggies, who have one win in 11 games and are tumbling out of contention to be in the play-offs, were actually the better side in the first half.
Molumby, on loan from Brighton, grabbed his second senior goal and first for West
Brom in the 28th minute. The 22-year-old, smashed home off the back of Dael Fry, after good work by Andy Carroll to muscle to the byline and have a cross half-cleared.
Boro were flat and lacking punch as the visitors grew in confidence during the first half.
Carroll caused them problems up front and they were mainly a threat on the breakaway, apart
from sloppy final balls. Wilder shook up his side on 54 minutes with a double substitution as Duncan Watmore and Andraz Sporar came on, and it paid off.
Paddy McNair fired the home side level in the 59th minute, forcing home a Marcus Tavernier cross from close range.
Centre-half McNair took a gamble to break into the box after a good spell of Boro pressure and a brilliant defence-opening pass from Riley McGree.
Tavernier made no mistake on 69 minutes. He crashed home his second of the season, and first since September, at the back post.
The slick strike owed much to a skilful break down the right by Anfernee Dijksteel to set up Isaiah Jones’ cross.
MIDDLESBROUGH (3-5-2): Lumley 6; Dijksteel 7, Fry 6, McNair 7; Jones 6, McGree 7, Howson 6, Tavernier 8, Taylor 6 (Sporar 54, 6); Balogun 6 (Watmore 54, 6), Connolly 6 (Peltier 83). Goals: McNair 60, Tavernier 69.
WEST BROM (3-4-2-1): Johnstone 6; Bartley 6, O’Shea 6, Ajayi 6; Reach 6 (Robinson 76), Molumby 7, Mowatt 7, Townsend 6 (Furlong 82); Diangana 6 (Tulloch 80), Grant 7; Carroll 6. Goal: Molumby 28.