Middlesbrough 0 Liverpool 0 - Match Report

By Andy Morgan
November 27 2006

The question on the lips of all Boro fans was whether their club could extend their run of straight home wins to four after seeing off Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham in the last three encounters at the Riverside.

They would have to do it without England international Stewart Downing however who failed a last-minute fitness test on a groin injury. Lee Cattermole was also ruled out of the side with a dead leg but a place was reserved for him on the bench should the Boro need his services.

Andrew Taylor was the only injury doubt who passed his lunchtime fitness test. He formed the left side of a four man defence that saw Emmanuel Pogatetz partner Jonathan Woodgate in the centre, with Robert Huth named amongst the substitutes.

Julio Arca was deployed on the left of midfield in the 4-5-1 formation that had worked so effectively against the Hammers. This left Yakubu as the lone striker once more, with super-sub Massimo Maccarone starting the game where he always does - on the bench.

Liverpool meanwhile played Steven Gerrard in the centre of midfield as had been rumoured throughout the week. The game at the Riverside saw them searching for their first win in six on the road and their first goal in open play on their travels this season.

Schwarzer, Davies (Huth 46), Woodgate, Pogatetz, Taylor, Morrison (Maccarone 73), Boateng (Cattermole 71), Rochemback, Euell, Arca, Yakubu, Jones, Mendieta

THE FIRST HALF

Liverpool showed their class from the off, having the first shot on target in the third minute. A cheeky run by Craig Bellamy allowed Mark Gonzalez to nip in and launch a shot at the Boro goal from twenty yards but it was right down Mark Schwarzer's throat.

The Boro looked up for the game however, playing with a strength typified by the tackling of their captain, George Boateng. Liverpool however asserted their class but the game was limited to a midfield battle at this stage.

Liverpool were trying to break out but Boro were playing the offside trap successfully. Craig Bellamy was flagged on ten as this risky policy was employed.

But on twelve Yakubu was judged to be offside after an excellent James Morrison ball picked out Andrew Davies' delicious overlap. Davies whipped the ball in but the assistant deemed it fit to raise his flag, at the very moment Jose Reina caught the ball in the Liverpool goal.

It was all Boro at this stage as they tried to pen Liverpool in their own half. First Yakubu was bundled over, then Fabio Rochemback had a go but this just allowed Liverpool to break.

On fourteen Liverpool darted forward and for a brief moment it was three upon two. But some imperious defending by Emmanuel Pogatetz on a Dirk Kuyt speculative effort saved Boro's bacon although it did result in the concession of a corner.

A minute later Jason Euell was thwarted by Reina after his run was picked out by Morrison. From six yards out Euell found himself one on one with the keeper and without Yakubu ghosting in, Euell was forced into the shot. It was palmed away by the Liverpool keeper.

On twenty-one Boro survived their first major scare and the best chance of the game. The ball was chested into Bellamy and he passed it to Kuyt who should have scored from twelve yards out centre. Fortunately for Boro he fluffed his effort, hitting it wide.

Boro's defence started to look shaky as Liverpool put the home side under some more concerted pressure. Two goals were conceded yet had their finishing been better they could have been one goal to the good before now.

On twenty-five Liverpool were awarded a disputable free-kick on the edge of the area but this was wasted too. The Boro broke from this, characterised by neat tidy passing but Yakubu's ball was poor and this allowed Liverpool back in.

Both teams were committed but were lacking in quality. Meanwhile the game had descended into a stop-start affair after Mr Mason kept rewarding niggly free-kicks against the Boro.

On thirty-two Jermaine Pennant laid the ball on a plate to Xabi Alonso after some incisive Liverpool passing. The Spaniard blasted his shot high and wide after trying to take the effort on his least favoured right foot.

Liverpool were playing a neat passing game that almost resulted in a goal on thirty-seven. Great running from Bellamy eventually saw the ball fall to Pennant who turned and hit a shot from six yards out. Schwarzer parried the save, turning it around the post for a corner.

Liverpool were taking advantage of Boro's lethargic defence, the home side's lack of ability to close down allowing the opposition to pepper the goal with shots. The majority of these were on target but Schwarzer was not particularly assaulted, performing a myriad of comfortable saves.

Towards the end of the half the game became as sterile as a nuclear scientist after undergoing a vasectomy. Both sides struggled to get a hold on the game and the last ten minutes descended into a game of keep-ball. Ultimately however both sides lacked that killer punch and, although the game had generally be fought with passion, the quality and delivery was just not there. It was a fair result going into the interval.

FIRST HALF FAN REACTION

"Still no shot on target!"
Bliss


THE SECOND HALF

Robert Huth replaced Andrew Davies at half time, the Boro Academy player having picked up a slight knock in the opening half.

The second half started much in the same way that the first ended. Kuyt went down in the box to try and win a penalty but the referee was having none of it whilst the Boro broke out of their half but let themselves down in the final third through poor passing.

On fifty-two Yakubu started a flowing move that should have ended in him scoring. He passed the ball out to Morrison who crossed the ball into the Liverpool penalty area. Jason Euell thumped a powerful header towards goal and forced Reina into parrying. The ball went straight into the path of the Nigerian, who swiped clean through it from around six yards out. He had missed the best chance of the game so far.

The Boro sensed blood at this point and launched another penetrating move into Liverpool territory. This won the home side a corner but nothing came from this.

On fifty-four Liverpool hit back as Pennant lumped a deep cross in from the right. Kuyt did well to keep the ball in play and passed it back to Bellamy in the process. The Liverpool striker's shot was raggedly defended as the game started to open up.

On fifty-seven Schwarzer was forced into making a world-class save after Daniel Agger hit a doozey from twenty-five yards out. It was destined for the top corner forcing the Aussie to parry. The ball was eventually cleared from danger.

Liverpool were in the ascendancy at this stage, after launching a series of attacks at the Boro goal. But they were getting little joy, with the Boro defence snuffing out any shooting opportunity. However in Boro's hoofing clearances, all they were doing was giving the ball back to their adversaries so they could build another attack. The Boro needed to try and break from the trap of being encamped on their own eighteen yard line.

On sixty-seven Schwarzer was called into making another top drawer save, this time from Mark Gonzalez. He turned in the box and hit a shot from twelve yards out forcing the Australian to work.

Like at Watford, sloppiness from George Boateng almost cost us. He was caught in possession by Bellamy who charged towards the Boro penalty area, passing to Kuyt. He crossed the ball in and Pogatetz cleared but it was another piece of evidence to suggest that Boateng was far from his usual imperious self.

On seventy-one Lee Cattermole was introduced in the hope that his creativity could relieve some of the pressure on Boro's backline. George Boateng made way for the youngster whilst Emmanuel Pogatetz continually asserted his view that the midfield needed to push forward in order to relieve the pressure on Boro's rearguard. Boateng meanwhile was substituted due to injury.

Two minutes later James Morrison made way for Italian super-sub Massimo Maccarone. It was Gareth Southgate's last roll of the dice but the boos around the stadium suggested that the fans were unhappy that the impressive Morrison was having to make way, particularly when Euell and Rochemback had played worse.

Peter Crouch came on for Liverpool in Benitez's hope that his side could break the deadline. They had had all of the possession in the second half and had forced the Boro to doggedly defend but the home side were still holding on, much to the travelling fans' frustration.

On eighty-two Jonathan Woodgate cleared the ball off the line after Peter Crouch ghosted in and beat Schwarzer with a header. He had only been on five minutes, threatening to do to Boro what Massimo Maccarone had done to West Ham last week.

On eighty-four former Boro fan favourite Bolo Zenden was introduced to the action to a chorus of boos from the home crowd. With his side getting closer and closer to obtaining that elusive goal, Benitez had decided to go for all three points.

INTO THE RED ZONE

The Boro were offering nothing in terms of attack and it was very much the case of holding on for the last few minutes of the game. In fact it had been like that for all of the second half with Boro being forced into their own half by wave upon wave of dangerous Liverpool moves.

Boro survived another scare in stoppage time with Crouch once again almost causing the Boro's downfall. Another deep cross was met with another header and another save on the line.

And that was the final action of the match - a match in which we were second best for the majority of the game. Indeed it was another game with another spectacular one shot on target. It is evident that there is something wrong in this department yet it is our midfield where the problem resides.

Put simply it just lacks quality. When Downing is out, there is no creativity. It is too full of players who are either too poor (Rochemback) or too old (Boateng) to be effective. Again the opposition tore through Boro far too easily and had Woodgate and Pogatetz not been imperious in defence, we would have conceded a hat-load. It is this department, more than any other, where Boro need to improve in the January transfer window.

FULL TIME FAN REACTION

"A point is better than none but we are hardly setting the League on fire are we?"
Lillibet

"This defensive, no passion, no skill dross AT HOME is cack"
Gaizka14

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