Assombalonga grabs 10-man Boro a point
Middlesbrough 1
Assombalonga (62)
blacKburn rovers 1
Mulgrew (22) Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis felt the officials got it wrong when they dismissed Mo Besic during the draw at home to Blackburn.
Besic was sent off in the 20th minute at the Riverside Stadium, with referee Simon Hooper showing a straight red card after the Bosnian pulled Bradley Dack’s shirt to prevent his opponent breaking clear into the box.
Hooper initially looked to have missed the incident, but after a pause when he appeared to receive information via his earpiece, he gave Besic his marching orders.
Pulis accepts Besic tugged Dack’s shirt, but reckons goalkeeper Darren Randolph would have got to the ball ahead of the Blackburn player.
He said: “The referee doesn’t send him off – it’s the fourth official and the linesman on our side. I’ll say it now – Besic does pull his shirt.
“But I believe our goalkeeper was getting to the ball first before their lad. I think it’s a yellow card, not a sending off.
“How they make that decision from that distance – and a decision that ultimately changed the game – is beyond me.”
Boro suffered a double punishment, with Charlie Mulgrew curling home Blackburn’s opener from the free-kick that followed Besic’s departure.
At that stage, the Teessiders looked like suffering a second successive home defeat, but Pulis’ bold half-time changes
:
Randolph 6; Shotton 6, Friend 7, Ayala 6, Flint 6; Howson 8, Clayton 5 (Saville 46, 6), Besic 4; Downing 5 (Assombalonga 46, 7), Hugill 6, Fletcher 5 (Wing 32, 6). Unused subs – Batth, McNair, Tavernier, Lonergan.
Middlesbrough
blacKburn:
Raya 7; Nyambe 6, Williams 7, Downing 7, Mulgrew 7; Evans 6, Smallwood 6 (Rothwell 75, 5); Reed 6 (Brereton 85, 5), Dack 7, Conway 6 (Armstrong 70, 6); Graham 6. Unused subs – Leutwiler, Bell, Lenihan, Palmer. altered the course of the game, with sub Britt Assombalonga curling home a magnificent equaliser midway through the second half.
Danny Graham had almost scored in the 37th minute as he met Harrison Reed’s cross with a crisp first-time shot, but Daniel Ayala produced a superb sliding challenge, before he was denied by Darren Randolph.
Dack then crashed a firsttime shot against a post, before Assombalonga struck.
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray was disappointed at his side’s failure to hold on to their lead in the second half.
The former Boro boss felt his side had created enough chances to put the game to bed, but praised his former club’s spirit. He said: “It’s a very frustrated dressing room. We shouldn’t have dropped points, playing against 10 men and having scored from a free-kick.
“Ultimately we needed the second goal, and it didn’t come. I think if there’s one team in this league you don’t want to play against with ten men, it’s probably Middlesbrough.” Staight after Muhamed Besic’s red card, Blackburn inflicted a double punishment as Charlie Mulgrew struck the resultant free-kick into the bottom corner.
The ability has been questionable this season, but the effort hasn’t. Today, neither have been on display
@tom_muldowney