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NEWCASTLE v MIDDLESBROUGH ANALYSIS AND PLAYER RATINGS 5-3-07
Udayan Mukherjee
St James Park
Attendance - 52,303
Newcastle 0 Middlesbrough 0
Another game, another positive result, even if the ninety minutes of football on display was less than pleasing to the purist. The players on either side cannot be faulted for 'character' (As Gareth Southgate seems to say at the end of every match), and as a result of dogged defending and pure perspiration, we came away with a creditable draw, extending our run to a meagre one defeat in fourteen games.
In terms of goal mouth action however, there was very little, and when George Boateng is the member of the Boro team that produced the most efforts on goal, then you know that the game you have seen unfolding before your eyes is a bit, shall we say, rubbish.
The game started off with no particularly interesting goalmouth action to talk about, with Newcastle looking like the side more likely to break through. Boro seemed happy to sit and not take any risks. I would like to say we attempted to play possession football, but this would be a bare faced lie as passes were going astray time and time again.
On nine minutes George Boateng hit an effort just over the bar after the Boro pounced upon a rubbish clearance by Mr Perineum in the Newcastle defence. There's actually that little to write about that I have resorted to taking player nicknames (Gooch) and using technical medical terms instead of them.
Newcastle attempted to break the deadlock when an excellent ball from Nicky Butt found Obafemi Martins in space behind the Boro defence, but he delayed his shot and his attempted chip led to an impressive save by Mark Schwarzer.
Nothing of note happened for another twenty minutes and describing it as a boggy midfield battle would do bogs an injustice. On fourty minutes however, the Boro fashioned a decent chance when a lovely ball found Yakubu who burst beyond Mr Perineum and laid it to Mark Viduka, who really ought to have done better than dragging his shot disappointingly wide.
Still, it was a statement of intent from the visitors and gave rise to Boro's best period of the game. With heavy pressure raining on the Newcastle goal Gay Shiven needed to acrobatically punch away to prevent a Boro goal.
The pressure lasted for all of five minutes as after the play resumed for the second half Newcastle attempted to pile on the pressure, and came closest when a Milner free kick rattled the crossbar. Newcastle continued their territorial dominance and pressed for a winner without really troubling Schwarzer, bar a effort in the closing minutes by scott Parker following a fine Butt cross which Schwarzer saved well on the line.
All in all a very satisfactory result for the Boro, and an enjoyable day out for the Boro faithful, who out sung their Geordie counterparts for the majority of the game, even though the match itself was bloody rubbish.
Player ratings
Mark Schwarzer - Did Everything that was asked of him and made a few good saves. 8
Stuart Parnaby - A decent performance. 6
Jonathan Woodgate - Marshalled the defence superbly against his former club. Another day at the office for him. 8
Emanuel Pogatetz - Did well at the heart of the defence. He was the muscle compared to Woodgates finesse. 7
Andrew Taylor - A good game for Taylor. Was beaten a few times but put in lots of effort and played with panache. 7
George Boateng - Made several good challenges and interceptions and managed Middlesbrough's only shot on target. Also hit a good long range effort slightly over the bar. 8
Lee Cattermole - As in every game he put in 100% and made several good tackles but was not quite creative enough as a right midfielder. 7
Julio Arca - Plenty of effort but not quite enough guile from the Argentinian. Showed some flashes of good play in a creative sense, but not as much as we have become accustomed to. Was taken off for Jason Euell late on in the game. 7
Stuart Downing - Did absolutely nothing. Ambled around. 5.5
Mark Viduka - Wasn't given the ball enough and didn't really do anything of note apart from the one shot he had in the first half which he could have scored from. 6
Yakubu - To put it simply, he was anonymous. 5.5
Substitutes
Lee Dong Gook - Plenty of running, played well but not on the pitch for long enough too make an impact of any magnitude. 6
James Morrison - Played OK but didn't really create or make an impact, although it is difficult to come off the bench and do so. 6
Jason Euell - No complaints - didn't do too much wrong. 6
NOW HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE NEW HOLGATE FORUM
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