War cry from Neil as his Boro boys put Royals to sword

2021-02-21 - By ROB STEWART

NEIL WARNOCK was celebrating last night after what he hailed as the best win of his Middlesbrough reign.

Warnock spoke out after first-half goals from Ashley Fletcher and Marc Bola saw off promotion rivals Reading.

“That has to go down as best display since I came to Boro so I’m really chuffed,” said Warnock, who replaced Jonathan Woodgate in June.

“I really enjoyed watching what was a really good performance against a good side.

“We were right in the mood and tactically we were very good as well.

“It sounds silly but we were totally different from the side that lost last weekend at Derby.

“The lads did everything we asked of them and more.”

Reading began brightly and Andy Rinomhota should have put the hosts ahead early on but drove his shot just wide after being teed up by Michael Olise.

Hotshot Lucas Joao then headed Olise’s corner over the crossbar and it seemed only a matter of time before the Royals would take command.

But Middlesbrough held firm and Fletcher poked home his second goal in five days on 22 minutes after Dael Fry nodded Paddy McNair’s free-kick into the goalmouth.

Reading hit back and Ovie Ejaria went close to leveling but his low, angled shot was narrowly wide of the Marcus Bettinelli’s post.

Things went from bad to worse for the hosts on 29 minutes when Bola let fly from just outside the edge of the penalty after good work by Sam Morsy.

His rising shot gave keeper Rafael no chance. McNair should have strengthened Boro’s grip on the contest just before half-time when he broke clear but Rafael smothered his low shot.

Reading struggled to get going after the break and Duncan Watmore would have rubbed salt into wounds when he broke clear, only to lose his footing.

Andy Yiadom followed suit at the other end when he closed in on goal – it just about summed up Reading’s struggles. Rafael came to their rescue with a smart save to deny Fletcher but his outfield colleagues continued to look flat in attack.

It was left to Royals skipper Michael Morrison to lead by example and finally test Bettinelli late on, trying his luck from just inside the box.

Reading manager Veljko Paunovic, whose side have now lost three on the bounce at the Madejski, said: “We can’t afford to keep losing at home – this is unacceptable and I’m not happy with it.

“We have to stay calm and look to improve and bounce back immediately.

“However, we can’t become bitter and throw things at each other.”

READING: Rafael 6; Yiadom 5, Morrison 6, McIntyre 5, Richards 5 (Gibson (46th) 6); Rinomhota 6, Laurent

6; Olise 6 (Aluko 89th), Semedo 6 (Esteves (46th) 6), Ejaria 6 (Puscas

78th 6); Joao 6

MIDDLESBROUGH: Bettinelli 6; Dijksteel 6, Fry 7, McNair 9; Fisher

6 (Mendez-Laing 78th); Howson 6, Morsy 6, Kebano 6 (Saville 78th), Bola

8; Fletcher 7, Watmore 6 (Johnson

(66th) 6)

STAR MAN: Paddy McNair

REF: D Webb

Boro

SECOND-HALF goals from Stefan Johansen and Todd Kane sealed QPR’s sixth win in seven games.

The Hoops stars fired in either side of a Shane Long equaliser as QPR eased any lingering relegation worries and dented Bournemouth’s promotion ambitions.

But Rangers boss Mark Warburton is not getting carried away with the fine form.

He said: “This division is ruthless and the moment you start relaxing it does bite you on the bum.

“So everything we do now is about Preston on Wednesday night.

“When you look at the quality of the opposition that tells you all you need to know about the result.”

The Cherries had the best of the chances in a scrappy first half.

Seny Dieng denied first Philip Billing and then Long in one-on-ones after they were sent clean through.

Opportunities began to flow after the break as Yoann Barbet headed an Ilias Chair free-kick against the bar before Adam Smith failed to guide a Lloyd Kelly shot on target from point-blank range.

QPR were gifted the lead after 58 minutes when a casual ball across defence by Chris Mepham was intercepted by Johansen on the edge of the area to the stroke the ball past Asmir Begovic.

They were level 11 minutes later when a Junior Stanislas cross was headed back across goal by Sam Surridge for Long to chest the ball over the line.

Kane netted the winner seven minutes from time, firing in Albert Adomah’s far-post cross after Macauley Bonne neatly flicked on Niko Hamalainen’s ball up the line.

Bonne had his own chance four minutes later when Begovic knocked Chris Willock’s cross to his feet but he somehow prodded it wide of the empty net.

Interim Bournemouth manager Jonathan Woodgate said: “We made basic errors and we got punished.

“It’s really, really frustrating.

“We weren’t clinical enough in both boxes. But we did perform well and we did deserve to win.”

With talk of former Arsenal sriker Thierry Henry taking over as manager at the Vitality Stadium, Woodgate admitted he was completely in the dark and did not know if he would be in charge for their midweek game against Cardiff.

“We will just wait for what the board say,” he said.

“It can be unsettling for the players and fans but there is nothing we can do about it.

“I just have to get on with it and keep my own counsel.

“We have to try to get in the play-offs and promotion.

“That is the aim, that is the focus.”

B’mouth

QPR: Dieng 7; Dickie 7, Cameron 6, Barbet 6; Kane 7, Ball 7, Johansen

7 (Willock (59th) 7), Wallace 6 (Hamalainen (59th) 6); Chair 5 (Adomah

(72nd) 7); Dykes 5 (Bonne (72nd) 5), Austin 6 (Field (59th) 7)

BOURNEMOUTH: Begovic 5; Mepham

5, Carter-Vickers 6, Kelly 7; Smith

7, Cook 6 (Danjuma 86th), Lerma 6, Stanislas 7; Wilshere 6 (Surridge (67th)