Middlesbrough 2-0 Wolves

Wolves went down 2-0 to Middlesbrough. In an even game, the defining moment was a penalty given for a Karl Henry handball in the 89th minute, tucked away by Marvin Emnes. With virtually the last kick of the game, Scott McDonald secured all three points for Boro. 

- Wolves were unchanged for the third successive game. This worried me slightly - I've written after both of the previous two games that the 4-4-2/4-2-4 formation that we've been playing with Björn Sigurðarson and Bakary Sako on the flanks can leave us exposed defensively. It was fine against a very poor Bristol City side, but even in the win against Birmingham, both fullbacks were isolated against their quick wingers in the first half. Still, Middlesbrough's midweek exertions in the League Cup against Swansea gave me hope that they would either be playing tired players, or a second string eleven. 

- As it happened, the defensive inefficiencies of Sigurðarson and Sako didn't cost us particularly down the wings, thanks mainly to the narrowness of Middlesbrough. As you'd expect from a Tony Mowbray team, their midfield keep the ball well but don't have a huge amount of width. In fact, it was difficult to work out who exactly was supposed to be playing on the flanks for Middlesbrough, with all of their midfielders happier tucking inside. In the first half, this gave Boro a lot of possession, but without a huge amount of penetration. One advantage of having two lightning quick, purely offensive wingers is that it pins the opposition fullbacks back. Neither George Friend nor Justin Hoyte got forward brilliantly, both almost certainly wary of the space they were leaving in behind them. 

- Generally, the game lacked quality with neither team having the ability to take the initiative. Wolves were better in the second half, but every chance was fired straight at Jason Steele in the Boro goal. Whereas in the first half, we played mainly on the counter attack, giving Sako plenty of space to run into, we were a little more on the front foot in the second, perhaps negating Sako a little who often received the ball too close to Hoyte. I say 'perhaps negating' him because he really looked like he didn't want to be there. This was first evidenced towards the end of the first half when he was fairly tackled losing the ball, but looked completely disinterested in getting the ball back. In the second half, at least until the goal, he had a few opportunities to attack Hoyte, but each time passed the ball simply without risk. This is fine for someone like Karl Henry, but when Sako gets the ball in dangerous positions, I want to see him do something. Sako seems to be a typical enigma - just as capable of absolute brilliance as he is of being ridiculously frustrating. 

- Boro won the game with a late penalty. I'm writing this without having seen a replay, but it looked a very soft decision. It was a right wing cross that travelled about 10 yards before hitting Henry somewhere on his body. While I suspect it hit his arm, I'm also fairly sure his arms were by his side - I don't think there was a deliberate attempt by Henry to block the cross with his arm. It reminded me quite a lot of the penalty given against Christophe Berra in the 3-3 draw with Brighton. It should be noted that while the referee obviously got the brunt of the abuse from the Wolves fans, it wasn't Mr Madley who originally wanted to give the decision - the assistant referee who was looking straight at it flagged straight away. If it was a harsh decision, then the assistant ref should be blamed - he could not have put himself into a better position to see had he tried. 

- The players were obviously incensed with the decision, surrounding the assistant straight away. And then, at the final whistle, Christophe Berra, Stephen Ward and Karl Henry went to the referee to continue the 'discussion'. Stale Solbakken was straight onto the pitch, physically pulling his players away from the referee. 

- There were two players for Middlesbrough I was particularly interested in seeing. Josh McEachran is a player who has had a lot of hype, being seen as Chelsea's answer to Jack Wilshere. His loan spell at Swansea last season didn't really work out for him, evidenced by the fact he's in the Championship this season. He looked tidy, picking out a couple of nice passes but was nominally Boro's wide midfielder, a position he didn't look comfortable in. For a player of his alleged potential, I'd want to see him get more involved in the game and dictate play more. Boro's captain was Jonathan Woodgate - a player I believe is the most naturally gifted English central defender of his generation. What I'd have given to have seen him alongside Rio Ferdinand for England in the mid 2000s, with a fit Owen Hargreaves sitting in front of them. Today, he showed his class, especially in the first half as he barely gave Sylvan Ebanks-Blake a kick. We were linked with him a couple of seasons back, when we eventually got Jamie O'Hara on loan - how I wish we'd managed to get him.