Gift for Boro as Button is undone by own goal
BRENTFORD tried but, like the eight clubs before them, failed as Aitor Karanka’s seemingly-unstoppable Middlesbrough side wrote themselves into the history books at Griffin Park last night.
The brick wall that has become their defence could not be knocked down as Boro became the third team in history to record nine consecutive clean sheets in football’s second tier.
Only Chelsea in 1905 and Leeds in 1928 managed that feat but, more importantly, it moved Middlesbrough six points clear at the top of the Championship as Derby could only draw.
The win came via a calamitous second-half own goal by Brentford goalkeeper David Button and Karanka said: ‘When you are at the top of the table this kind of thing happens. We’ve been lucky because the score could have been completely different in the the first half. We are top of the table and we were lucky.’
Their sixth consecutive win has them looking down at the rest in the Championship and Middlesbrough could even use their game in hand to go nine points clear.
Karanka, though, didn’t expect this. ‘I couldn’t have imagined this at the beginning of the season but we have to kick on,’ the Boro boss said. ‘At the beginning of the season I thought three teams relegated — Hull, QPR and Burnley — and Derby were strong. So I couldn’t imagine we would be six points clear with one game less.’
Karanka was right to say his side were lucky — for all their defensive strength they gave Brentford every opportunity to score.
The hosts did what so many teams before them had failed to do and broke through Boro’s back four but repeatedly failed to finish. Brentford winger Lasse Vibe could have scored in the first half when he had only Dimi Konstantopoulos to beat, only for the Greek goalkeeper to deny him.
The game was goalless by half time, much to Brentford’s amazement, but the deadlock was broken in the 61st minute.
An in-swinging corner looked to be easy for Button to punch clear but somehow, the goalkeeper found his own net. Brentford coach Dean Smith said: ‘He’ll learn from it. Everybody makes mistakes. Unfortunately when a keeper makes a mistake they get punished.’
Middlesbrough pushed their luck at Griffin Park but, as title challengers should, they got themselves into a winning position and never looked back.