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STEAUA v BORO, UEFA CUP SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG, 20th APRIL 2006
A hostile atmosphere greeted Boro as they entered the National Stadium. But it will take much more than 49,000 screaming Draculas to dent the steel of Ironopolis.
Ugo Ehiogu captained the side in the absence of Gareth Southgate and Matthew Bates covered for Chris Riggott. Steve McClaren played 4-4-2 with Jimmy Floyd and Yakubu up front.
Schwarzer, Queudrue, Ehiogu, Bates, Parnaby, Downing, Rochemback, Boateng, Morrison (Parlour70), Hasselbaink, Yakubu (Maccarone 70)
Jones, Wheater, Taylor, Doriva, Christie
Inside the gorund with ninety minutes to go until kick-off. Pic by Graham Frankland
THE FIRST HALF
There was no quick start to the game with Steaua quickly becoming disullusioned by Boro's physical presence and Rochemback's mastery of the midfield area.
The Romanian's tactics seemed to be to try to thread the ball around the midfield and take us out on the break but in the opening fifteen minutes they found no way through as Boro out muscled them and fought them.
The game started to open up a little after the first quarter-hour had passed and one key battle was shaping up on the left-wing between Stewart Downing and Bostina, with Stewey getting the better of the smaller man and managing to send in a couple of crosses that worried the Romanian defence.
At the other end, Mark Schwarzer had not been tested at all up to this point. On one of the rare occasions that they did break beyong midfield, Rochemback was there to clear up the potential danger and Boro countered with a gusto in a move that yet again rattled the Steaua defence.
On twenty-nine minutes, Steaua won a throw-in some distance from the box that was punted into the edge of the area and picked up by Dica who took the ball to the centre and blasted high into the roof of the net.
The goal was totally against the run of play and Steaua can consider themselves very lucky to have grabbed the opening goal.
STEAUA BUCHAREST 1 MIDDLESBROUGH (Dica 29)
Boro remained composed after going behind and immediately took control of the play, committing players forward and trying everything to get the ball into the Steaua box.
On thirty-eight minutes, just after Nicolita was booked for bringing down Yakubu, George Boateng picked out the giant forward in a shooting position and he teed it up and hit the bar. A minute later, Steaua's defence were clearing off the line as the Yak sent in another shot but Boro were looking vulnerable on the counter now.
Two Steaua corners in quick succession stretched the Boro defence to it's limits but we were more than equal to the challenge but unable to capitalise on the spaces rhat were left in the Romanian midfield on these occasions.
Half-time in Bucharest but only a quarter of the tie gone. Nicolita is banned for the second leg, along with Paraschiv who was also booked in the first-half. So far Bucharest have given us no reason to be concerned, despite grabbing a lucky goal. A lucky goal that can easily be negated.
FIRST-HALF FAN REACTION
"i dont think we can qualify in the Riverside game because we have our goal-man suspended for the yellow cards and Paraschiv also. Plus our Uefa Cup top goalscorer with nine goals this year is injured for three games and won't play. I was kicked out from the stadium after twenty minutes because I'm very drunk and my brother and my friends and girlfriend are still in there..."
Blakey - Steaua Bucharest supporter
THE SECOND HALF
Boro had an early scare in the opening minutes of the second-half as the right hand side of our defence was left ragged and marooned by Oprita who made a terrific run and maanged to get the ball into the area. Luckily for Boro, the shot was wanting. This was a wake-up call for Boro.
Steaua had come out for the second-half looking determined to extend their lead and Dica was starting to get the better of all of our defenders. He forced a world-class save from Skippy in the fifty-fifth minute as he shot from a corner but Schwarzer's reflexes were in top order as he rose to the challenge and kept Boro in the game.
A mix-up in the Boro defence on sixty-one minutes had Boro sweating as Nicolita once again foxed our backline and managed to create space for himself and again it was left to Mark Schwarzer to keep us in it which he did with fine style making another brilliant save. Steaua had the game under control now and Boro were struggling to contain them.
After being under the cosh for some minutes, Boro made a double substitution on seventy minutes with Ray Parlour replacing James Morrison and Hail Massimo entering the fray in place of Yakubu. Boro reverted to 4-5-1 with Massimo taking a midfield role and Jimmy taking on the role of lone striker.
Mark Schwarzer was booked a few minutes later for absolutely nothing. Referee Alan Hamer who had not enjoyed a good performance on the night raced half way across the pitch to brandish the yellow card, apparently for time wasting. It was unjuts and unnecessary.
Steaua continued to press and Boro were penned back in our own half for the vast mojority of the next stage of the game. Nicolita managed to turn Franck Queudrue and get in a cross that came to nothing but Boro really were under pressure going into the last ten minutes.
INTO THE RED ZONE
How Radoi did not score on eighty minutes is anyone's guess. The defender found himself in space and collected from Nicolita and with what seemed like all the time in the world, managed to put his shot wide. Boro were hanging on by the skin of our teeth now...
Finally, Boro managed to break out of the Bucharest half and create an attacking move that Maccarone got on the end of. His shot was only just off target but it was good to see the team still resurgent after a long, long spell of pressure and still able to worry Steaua.
That's what we will have to do next Thursday but that is not beyond our capabilities at all. We weathered a big storm tonight and got what can be considered a reasonable result. Gareth Southgate, Mark Viduka and Chris Riggott will be back next week and Steaua's best three players are out. We have no reason to be worried at all. It's all still to play for.
FULL-TIME FAN REACTION
"We didn't step up the pace like we should have done in the second-half but we'll do them big time at the Riverside next week!"
Mike Read
Full-Time Whistle: 2040 - Report Online: 2045
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