Wizard Potter sinks Boro as play-off bid takes another hit
SECOND HOME LOSS IN JUST FOUR DAYS
MIDDLESBROUGH’S play-off hopes suffered a blow on Saturday as they failed to make possessional dominance count and lost 1-0 at home to Hull City.
Keane Lewis-potter’s goal with 16 minutes to go was enough to seal the win for Shota Arveladze’s visiting side as Boro saw plenty of the ball but just couldn’t find a route through to goal to make it count.
Chris Wilder made four changes to his side again, having made the same amount for the midweek defeat to Fulham too.
Isaiah Jones was still not well enough to return so the Boro boss looked for more attacking intent by starting Riley Mcgree ahead of Lee Peltier, switching Marcus Tavernier across to the right, while Marc Bola was back in at left wing-back at the expense of Neil Taylor. The two strikers changed again as Aaron Connolly and Folarin Balogun were preferred to Duncan Watmore and Andraz Sporar.
Wilder felt his Boro side were slow to take the handbrake off in midweek against Fulham but there were no such issues with that in this one.
They were quickly into the ascendancy and in control as they set a good early tempo and moved the ball around well. In the early stage at least though, they were just struggling to find that final pass or that final touch to provide the opening.
It was in the 27th minute when Matt Ingram in the visiting goal had a shot to save. He had showed good hands early on to get down and smother a Bola cross from the left and did so again when a cross was headed out to the wing-back just outside the penalty area.
As it came out of the air, Bola looked to be too underneath it, but he showed great agility and technique to get his volley off. A deflection in a congested penalty area caused an awkward bounce but Ingram held well with Middlesbrough forwards lurking for a rebound.
Boro suffered a blow on 34 minutes when Dael Fry went to ground away from the ball. It wasn’t exactly clear what the issue was but he left the field in clear discomfort using the support of the Boro physios. On his place was veteran centre-back Sol Bamba.
That blow didn’t show immediate
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signs of disrupting Boro though as just moments later Mcgree went agonisingly close. Receiving the ball in space on the edge of the box, he hit it low on his weaker right foot but dragged it just wide of the keeper’s right post.
But there was a growing sense of anxiety around the Riverside as attack after attack broke down and Boro started to let their tempo dip.
And that almost came to a head just minutes before the interval when Hull City had the best chance of the first half. A flicked header in behind Bamba and Paddy Mcnair put George Honeyman through. Lumley was out quick to make the former Sunderland man’s task harder but the Tigers man managed to flick the ball over the Boro keeper, only for Tavernier to sweep superbly and clear off the line.
It was a huge let-off just before the break for the home side, and a big warning too. Possessional dominance is all well and good, but you have to make it count.
But instead of re-establishing that dominance after the break, Boro looked more sloppy after the interval as passes went astray and frustrations grew around the ground.
Sensing the shift, Wilder made his final two changes after the hour mark as he threw Watmore and Josh Coburn on for Balogun and Matt Crooks. Initially, it appeared to spark some life into the home side as Watmore drove at the Hull defence and Coburn battled and hustled, lifting the Boro fans.
That atmosphere reached another level when they thought they had taken the lead midway through the half. Another positive drive from Watmore led to him poking the ball forward for Connolly, who ran on and finished beyond Ingram. Celebrations were cut short as the linesman’s flag went off with the Brighton loanee just unable to time his run.
Then came the sucker punch. Tavernier allowed Lewis-potter to cut in on his right foot and the highly rated Tigers star whipped a shot across the goal that came through bodies and bounced awkwardly in front of Lumley who perhaps should have done better with it. It had an air of typical Boro about it.
From there, the hosts threw all they could at trying to get something but there was no route through the Hull backline. Ingram’s palms were stung by a long-range Tavernier drive in stoppage time, while Connolly headed wide from a Jonny Howson freekick, but this just wasn’t Boro’s day.
The one saving grace as far as the race for the play-offs is concerned is that only Nottingham Forest and Millwall managed wins, meaning Wilder’s men only fell to eighth in the table.
Huddersfield and Luton, fourth and fifth respectively clash tomorrow but the result of that is almost moot if Middlesbrough fail to convert their chances.