AGNEW OVER DE ROON
Marten takes care of business
HOW do you make lowly Middlesbrough look good?
Let them play against Sunderland’s woeful defence every week.
Marten de Roon’s early winner, however, is unlikely to prove a platform towards survival.
Nobody was talking of great escapes at the Riverside after caretaker boss Steve Agnew celebrated his first win at the seventh attempt.
It was more gallows humour from the 30,742 crowd with both sets of fans seemingly resigned to their fate.
For the opening seven minutes or so, Sunderland gave a half-decent impression of a football team.
Jermain Defoe had a volley saved, Didier Ndong sprayed the ball about and Lee Cattermole looked up for it.
Then Boro scored and David Moyes’ side resorted to type.
No, that’s not quite true, for half an hour they were even worse than normal and that’s saying something!
You know your defence is bad when Boro – 13 goals on Teesside before last night – look penetrating.
A lorry could have ploughed through their backline when Adam Clayton launched a ball forward on nine minutes.
Instead, it was De Roon who raced between Billy Jones and John O’Shea before poking his shot through the advancing Jordan Pickford. It was the Dutchman’s second goal in his last four games which is positively prolific in these parts!
Sunderland visibly wilted and 12 minutes later Stewart Downing beat Jason Denayer before brushing off a feeble Jones tackle and was only denied by the excellent Black Cats keeper who saved with his legs.
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It was all too much for the 3,000 travelling fans. “We want Moyesy out,” they chanted despite the Scot’s insistence 24 hours earlier that as a manager, he was now better than ever. They’ll take some convincing.
Ndong did test Brad Guzan with a long-range effort while Jones headed over the bar but most of the time, this was a great advert for football – Championship football.
Welcome to the North East, home of dawn raids by the tax authorities at one club and arguably the most depressing derby the region has ever staged between its other two. Newcastle’s promotion apart, it has been another grim season up north, on and off the pitch.
Moyes was earlier in the day charged with misconduct after his threat to slap a female TV reporter last month and he has until next Wednesday to give his plea.
The teams had kicked off with just one win between them in 31 games and, yes, there was an outbreak of joy when De Roon struck – but then Boro fans remembered even victory would leave them six points adrift of safety and still to play three of the top four.
The away support sang, “You’re going down with Sunderland,” and the home faithful responded with, “You’re going down with the Boro.”
Even Defoe, without a goal in his previous eight games, has lost his touch. He should have converted a Victor Anichebe cross but, instead of shooting first-time with his left foot, the striker swivelled onto his right and the chance was gone. BORO (4-3-3): Guzan; Chambers, Ayala, Gibson, Friend; De Roon, Clayton, Forshaw; Stuani, Negredo, Downing. Subs: Konstantopoulos, Fabio, Bernardo, Fischer, Bamford, Gestede, Traore. SUNDERLAND (4-3-3): Pickford; Jones, O’Shea, Denayer, Manquillo; Ndong, Cattermole, Gibson; Khazri, Defoe, Anichebe. Subs: Mannone, Rodwell, Borini, Lescott, Pienaar, Kone, Januzaj. Referee: Mike Dean.
Championship KO Cup quarterfinal, 1st leg:
National League KO Cup 1st rd, 1st leg: ACROSS: DOWN: