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CHARLTON v MIDDLESBROUGH FULL TIME REPORT
For Boro's 2500th post-war League game, Steve McClaren took a calculated risk at the Valley this afternoon by making nine changes to the team that beat Roma 1-0 at the Riverside on Thursday. Indeed only Mark Schwarzer and Emanuel Pogatetz were kept in the side. Boro had some of their big guns on the bench though, particularly Yakubu, but even then the bench wasn't the strongest.
There was no place for Hasselbaink in the squad and Maccarone started in a midfield positon. Parlour started for the first time since January and Viduka was alone up front as Boro adopted a 4-5-1 formation. Ugo Ehiogu was captain.
Schwarzer, McMahon (Davies, 13), Ehiogu, Pogatetz, Queudrue, Maccarone (Yakubu, 75), Parlour (Cattermole, 69), Doriva, Taylor, Johnson, Viduka, Jones, Riggott
THE FIRST HALF
The opening few minutes were tentative at best, with both sides just testing each other out. There was very little penetration and a few niggly fouls were committed, resulting in a very stop-start beginning.
The first run the Boro made was in the eighth minute but Doriva's ball was blocked by Hreidarsson, thwarting Maccarone's efforts. Meanwhile the only other excitement in what had been a lifeless game up until this point was the booking of Bryan Hughes for a foul on Tony McMahon.
Give-and-take football ensued but there was no attacking bent from either side whatsoever, with either balls being played long or the offside flag being continually raised. In the thirteenth minute meanwhile there was a concern over Tony McMahon after he had been clattered by Hughes five minutes earlier. The Boro player was led down the tunnel and was replaced by Andrew Davies. Davies made an immediate impact by dashing into Charlton territory and winning a free-kick for the away side.
This gave Boro their first opportunity of the day when the free-kick was whipped in. It found Maccarone who glanced it on to Viduka who was standing six yards out. Unfortunately the Australian scuffed his shot and it went straight to Thomas Myhre.
A run from Johnson a minute later set up Viduka, who couldn't get the ball from under his feet. The ball eventually broke to Ray Parlour about twenty yards out and he blasted a fierce shot that was tipped over the bar by the Charlton keeper for a corner. Nothing resulted from the subsequent set-play but Boro continued to attack with a new-found vigour.
The next five minutes consisted of tit-for-tat breaking by both sides but again the moves often broke down in the final third.
It wasn't until the twenty-second minute, and through another strong run from Johnson, that Boro's created their next chance. Johnson ran to the by-line, his pace beating Luke Young, and cut it back for Maccarone who forced a spectacular save from the Charlton keeper.
Two minutes later and Boro left themselves exposed defensively, resulting in Darren Bent becoming in a one-on-one situation with Mark Schwarzer. Thankfully Andrew Davies moved from one wing to the other to perform an expertly-timed last-ditch tackle to deny the Charlton striker a clear goal-scoring opportunity. This heralded a few minutes of patient Boro build-up but unfortunately little came of this. This was summed up by a Doriva crossed-ball that just eluded Maccarone's run in the thirty-first minute.
On thirty-four Johnson's pace again caused consternation in the Charlton defence, forcing Luke Young to concede a free-kick around twenty yards out. The Charlton defender was booked for his transgression. Mark Viduka's shot meanwhile hit the Charlton wall, looped into the air and was caught by the Charlton keeper, despite the Boro pressure on him.
Five minutes later another Adam Johnson run and turn invited another foul to be committed and thus the Boro were awarded another free-kick. This one was about twenty-two yards out and in a central position. Queurdue took it but it was comfortably saved on the line by Myhre.
Charlton got what must have been their first meaningful free-kick on forty-one but again they did nothing with it. Indeed Charlton had been poor all afternoon to this point and Boro were comfortably edging it in the balance of play.
On forty-three Johnson's menace again resulted in a perfectly weighted ball that allowed Maccarone in. The Italian however mistimed his run and the goal he 'scored' was ruled out for offside.
The final whistle blows a couple of uneventful minutes later to a chorus of meek boos from the home fans. The away support should be reasonably content at the Boro's superiority but can also feel justifiably disappointed that they are not in the lead here at the moment.
FIRST HALF FAN REACTION
"Johnston looks good. At the moment we should be 2-0 up"
Mr Kipling
"Johnston sounds like he's having a cracking game. Like Cattermole he was given a chance and looks like he's taking it with both hands. They're the positives from making changes."
Briggsy
THE SECOND HALF
Boro came out unchanged for the second half whilst Charlton made two substitutions - that of Bryan Hughes for Jerome Thomas and Jay Bothroyd for Jason Euell. Both were tactical manoeuvres by Alan Curbishley. The first few minutes however were played in the same vein as the first half - i.e. dull with not much happening.
The first attack came on the forty-ninth minute, again through Adam Johnson. He beat his man and whipped a ball into the box but it outfoxed the Boro strikeforce as well as the Charlton defence. From this Charlton broke but they were crowded out by a Boro defence led by Pogatetz.
On fifty-one a Boro free-kick that was again caused by a Luke Young foul on Adam Johnson resulted in a header from Ehiogu towards goal from about three yards out. He did not put enough power behind his attempt though and it was saved comfortably. The coup-de-grace came a minute later with a penetrating Maccarone run but the Italian failed to unleash his shot quickly enough and nothing came of it.
Charlton tried to break three minutes later but were forced into a slow build-up due to a lack of runs. Charlton had come out as poorly in the second half as they had done in the first and at this point were there for the taking. This attrition continued for the next five minutes, with absolutely nothing of note happening except for Ray Parlour's booking for persistent fouling on sixty.
On sixty-two Charlton had a series of headers from a throw-in that the Boro failed to clear. Ambrose had the final header and it just brushed past the right side of the post, with Schwarzer desperately scrambling. It was the first meaningful Charlton opportunity all game.
On sixty-five Charlton applied some pressure whilst their bette-noire Adam Johnson lay injured on the floor, suffering from cramp. This culminated in a Matt Holland shot being blocked by Franck Queudrue. The Charlton pressure continued, with Ugo Ehiogu being called in to the block two minutes later.
A miss-kick by Queudrue a minute later allowed the increasingly dangerous Jerome Thomas in but Andrew Davies mopped up the spillage in the Boro defence. Simultaneously Ray Parlour was replaced by Lee Cattermole after having made a solid, if unspectacular return to the side.
Charlton's increasing pressure was starting to pay dividends and indeed in the seventy-third minute it paid the ultimate reward. A pin-point cross by Chris Powell into the box alluded Pogatetz, who was beaten in the air by Darren Bent who was on the right side of the box, about six yards out. The Charlton striker placed a strong header past Schwarzer, breaking the deadlock and breaking the hearts of the Boro fans. It was Boro's first domestic concession in over nine hours of football.
CHARLTON 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 0 (Bent, 73)
In an attempt to redress the balance and to try and win a game in which the Boro had dominated, McClaren swapped Maccarone for top-scorer Yakubu. Charlton meanwhile had also made a substitution - Darren Ambrose for Shaun Bartlett. A minute later Viduka drew a shot wide from about 12 yards out, on the left, to the groans of the Boro fans.
This spurred the Boro on to greater things, as they started to attack, with most of the good work again coming through Adam Johnson. And this time it was the Boro who were to get their reward - with a deserved equaliser. Viduka, with his back to goal around twenty-five yards out and just in the left channel was harried by two defenders but somehow managed to turn round and launch a fierce shot over the Charlton keeper. Viduka celebrated to the sounds of 'Mark Viduka' from the Boro fans as their heartbreak was mended in a mere eight minutes.
CHARLTON 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Viduka, 81)
INTO THE RED ZONE
The next three minutes were again as nullified as the majority of the game but the game was not yet over as Darren Bent was determined to get the final word. Through some poor Boro defending Darren Bent was left at the back post completely unmarked and about six yards out as Luke Young's right-wing passed sliced the shambolic defence. Boro had slept in. Bent had the simple task of slotting the ball past Schwarzer for his and Charlton's second goal of the game.
CHARLTON 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Bent, 86)
In an attempt to redress the balance once more Yakubu launched a shot but it went way over the bar. Boro pushed up in injury time in an attempt to gain something positive from the tie but to no avail as Charlton were defending in numbers.
Adam Johnson underlined his superiority in the game with a cracking shot from the left hand side in the last minute of stoppage time, which forced a great save from Thomas Myhre. The subsequent corner was cleared off the line after an Andrew Davies shot.
After that the final whistle blew to the relief of the Charlton fans, who knew that they got out of jail today. Their team was poor and did not even deserve a point from this game, let alone all three. Boro were admittedly less creative in the second half but Charlton were woeful throughout and through the number of chances Middlesbrough created they deserved to get at least a point, if not three. Charlton were lucky this afternoon but poor defending cost us in the end and if you defend like that you deserve all you get. That's all that can be said about today's result because there is no way the Boro should have lost that. Not at all - even when our nine changes are taken into consideration. Let's just hope for a better result against Roma next week.
COB Man of the Match: Adam Johnson. He terrorised the Charlton defence all afternoon, particularly Luke Young who was repeatedly run ragged. All of our good attacks came through his surging runs, aided by his pace and he picked out the Boro strikeforce with some good incisive passing.
FULL TIME FAN REACTION
"V. disappointing"
Steve
"We had a good chance to up some ground with the Skunks and City losing and we blew it"
Boro on the Beach
Final whistle blew 1656, Report online 1707
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