Boro led way for first half-hour – before it all went wrong
MIDDLESBROUGH lost 3-2 at Huddersfield in their most uncharacteristic performance of the season.
Building success under Neil Warnock through being so solid defensively, at the John Smith’s Stadium they collapsed after a dominant opening 30 minutes and made life far easier for the Terriers than they have for most sides this season.
Here’s the game at a glance.
THE GOALS
1-0 Boro, Johnson (14 mins) – Really positive play from Tavernier. Runs forward, waits for Johnson to overlap, lays it into his path and Johnson produces the smart finish!
1-1 Huddersfield, Eiting (37 mins) – Boro were compact in their box as Huddersfield came forward but gave Eiting too much space on the edge. First-time shot beats Bettinelli. Think the GK might be disappointed with that one. Got a hand to it, but seemed like he had his positioning wrong to me. Too far to his right.
2-1 Huddersfield, Campbell
(45 mins) – Saville takes too long & loses possession. Huddersfield break and Campbell does very well to evade the challenge and then finish past Bettinelli who had followed Campbell’s feint and left too much of his goal on show again.
2-2 Boro, Assombalonga penalty (83 mins) – Fouled for the penalty by
Sarr after Howson slipped him in, he gets up and puts it top corner. Good spot-kick.
3-2 Huddersfield, Koroma (85 mins) – Dijksteel left one-on-one with the dangerous Koroma who beats him while cutting inside and then curls it past Bettinelli.
Great finish, but naive of Boro two
minutes after equalising.
THE TACTICS
Warnock went 4-2-3-1, making two changes from the side that beat Derby 3-0 on Wednesday.
As well as fitness-related, bringing in Marvin Johnson and Djed Spence for Duncan Watmore and Patrick Roberts was showing respect for the pace and penetrative Huddersfield attack which he correctly predicted ahead of the game.
THE GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
Boro dominated this game for 35 minutes and ought to have been further ahead than just the one goal, with Britt Assombalonga missing a sitter
from two yards.
Despite that, Assombalonga having a good game.
After conceding, Huddersfield went on the attack and Boro looked to be compact and soak up their pressure, while hitting on the counter.
It was working with Assombalonga beating Richard Stearman for pace and power every time.
The game changed when Stearman was forced off with a hamstring injury. The enforced change actually helped the hosts, with Rarmani Edmonds-green not giving the Boro captain another sniff and Huddersfield ultimately negating most of what Boro thew at them thereafter, while growing into the game.
At the same time, Boro completely collapsed at the back as they looked
was very tired and Huddersfield ruthlessly punished them for it.
THE KEY PLAYER
Boro’s best player on the day was Marvin Johnson, as his resurgence under Warnock continues.
Now switched to left-wing forward, Johnson leads Boro’s scoring charts and added a fourth of the season with a cool first-half finish under the goalkeeper.
He should have had an assist to his name before his goal too, his ball across the box should have been tapped home by Assombalonga.
He was regularly an attacking threat for Boro and also worked hard to get back and help out defensively at times.
With regards to his goal, one or two of his team-mates could certainly
learn something from it.
THE POSITIVE
Hard to pick many other than Johnson’s performance. Tavernier was once again dangerous too, without too much reward, although he does at least get an assist to his name for the Johnson goal.
Beyond that, Boro were largely second best and deserved their defeat in this one.
I guess in some respects, it’s a slight positive they almost still took a point from the game despite being so poor.
Almost is no good though. Their naivety cost them as they conceded the winning goal just two minutes after their late equaliser.
THE NEGATIVE
A lot of negatives but the major concern is just how jaded so many of the players looked after 30 minutes.
With such a thin squad so many have had to play an awful lot of football in such a short space of time, and there’s still another six games to play in the next three weeks.
Hopefully this proves just a blip because if it is an issue of tired legs, there’s little chance for rest and little leeway for change in personnel for Warnock.
THE VERDICT
Boro were unusually outclassed at Huddersfield by a pacy and penetrative Huddersfield side who looked far better than their starting league position suggested.
At times they looked tired as they lost the midfield battle and were second best to most of the loose or second balls.
Defensively, they were error-prone and too easy to break down at times. It was all a bit unusual for Boro this season, except for at the other end where ruthlessness cost them dear, as it has so often this term.
Warnock will hope this was just a bad day at the office, rather than a fatigue issue, because he isn’t blessed with numbers to change that much in a busy three weeks ahead.
Schofield, Bacuna (Duhaney 77), Stearman (Edmonds-green 30), Sarr, Toffolo, Eiting, Hogg, O’brien, Mbenza (Brown 90), Campbell (Ward 78), Koroma (Rowe 90). Subs not used: Diakhaby, Daly, Phillips, Joel Pereira.