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MIDDLESBROUGH v AS ROMA - BRIGGSY'S ANALYSIS
History in the making
A brilliant 1-0 win over Italian giants Roma leaves us just one step away from the UEFA Cup Quarter-final, which will once again make history for Boro.
As the teams came out and lined up before the kick off, I was very blurry eyed. It suddenly hit home - It's Middlesbrough v AS Roma. Even to say it sends shivers down my spine. I felt privileged to be in attendance. Not so long ago we could have only dreamed of this fixture.
Steve McClaren opted for an adventurous 4-4-2 formation against the Italian giants. The starting eleven was - Schwarzer, Davies, Southgate, Riggott, Pogo, Mendi, Cattermole, Boateng, Downing, Hasselbaink and Yakubu. Lee Cattermole and George Boateng had the important role of breaking the Roma attacking play while protecting the back four, thus allowing the wide men Mendi and Downing the freedom to get forward and help the strikers.
With all the hype leading up to the game we certainly weren't bowed by the occasion. From the off you could tell the type of game it was going to be - a very competitive and high tempo game. The first goal scoring opportunity of the game came after eleven minutes and it was certainly the defining moment of the night. The advancing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was put through by Mendi, Jimmy took a touch around the Curci and then was clearly impeded by the Roma keeper - penalty! The 'cool as you like' Yakubu confidently stepped up and stroked the ball into the net sending Curci the wrong way.
Arguably Roma's best chance of the game came six minutes later when Simone Perotta advanced into the Middlesbrough box and tried to play a clever ball inside, the rock that is Gareth Southgate was on hand to clear the danger. Roma had the majority of the midfield play but we adjusted to this by getting men behind the ball and making us very hard to break down. Hasselbaink and Boateng both had chances at goal before the break, but due to poor finishing we failed to capitalise.
Middlesbrough started the second half brightly with Hasselbaink and Cattermole both having chances but again we failed to capitalise. Roma surged forward as the half went on and tried their upmost to get that vital away goal. They must had thought they had that away goal when Alessandro Mancini played a neat one-two with Perotta, shifted the ball and fired a shot goal bound only to see it just go wide.
Hasselbaink once again proved to be a handful for the Italians, in his new role when he his powerful shot from just outside the box was parried by Curci. Roma sent on another striker and continued to push forward and looked that had got an equaliser on seventy-nine minutes when substitute Edgar Alvarez had a great chance at the far post but Stewart Downing just did enough to get his body in front of the shot.
Moments later Boro had the chance to make it 2-0 when a beautiful crafted ball by Mark Viduka put Mendi clean through. He had too much time it seemed and his shot was sent high above the goal. Credit it to the Roma keeper for staying big but just how vital will that miss be? Mancini had a thunderous shot from range in stoppage time, but Mark Schwarzer was well behind the ball and it didn't trouble him.
The final whistle brought a rapturous response from the Boro fans. This was a fantastic result which will certainly go down as one of the most famous victories the club has ever seen and we fully deserved it, make no mistake about that. It was an all round professional performance by each and every one of the lads in red. We played as a team - everyone had their role to play and remained focussed from start to finish.
Roma are without doubt a quality team and this was their only second defeat in four months. Technically they are one of the best teams I've watched, with nice intricate pass and move football. But we asked many questions of them on Thursday night, we got men behind the ball and they didn't take well to our physical approach to the game. We stopped them from what they are best at - counter attacking football and having put a stop to this they seemed to lack the quality in the final third.
The game is set up nicely for the second leg in Rome tomorrow night. Personally I'd stick with the same starting eleven. We must not try to sit on our lead because we could well be punished. We must go for that away goal and then the pressure will well and truly be on them needing three to win. With Jimmy and Yakubu chances will come our way, so I'm quite optimistic for the second leg.
With talk that McClaren had lost the dressing room only weeks ago, the club has shown tremendous character and spirit to squash those claims. We'd won eight of our last ten games before Charlton, which puts up there as one of the 'in form' teams in Europe.
As they say, the buck ultimately stops at the manager and he got his fair share of criticism during our slump. But now we've turned it totally around and I don't even think that I envisaged such a turnaround in fortunes. So credit where it's due - Well done Steve McClaren.
Final Word: Once again under Steve Gibson and Steve McClaren's leadership I've had another proud moment supporting the club. Long may it continue. This is a result which will certainly be etched in my memory for years to come.
NOW HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE NEW HOLGATE MESSAGE BOARD
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