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MIDDLESBROUGH
2 ARSENAL 1 - MATCH REPORT
Barclays Premier League, Riverside Stadium, Sunday 9th December 2007
Andy Morgan
Middlesbrough hoped to build on last week's
positive draw at Reading by beating an unbeaten Arsenal
side who had not failed to score a goal in a League match all season.
Ross Turnbull started in goal as Mark Schwarzer had failed to
recover from a broken thumb.
David Wheater and Jonathan Woodgate once more formed the central
defensive partnership as Emmanuel Pogatetz was drafted in to
replace Andrew Taylor at left-back. Luke Young was on the right.
George Boateng and Fabio Rochemback were in the middle of midfield
with Gary O'Neil and Stewart Downing on the right and left respectively.
Julio Arca meanwhile was on the bench.
Up front Tuncay Sanli was to partner former Arsenal star Jeremie
Aliadiere in a 4-4-2 formation.
Turnbull, Young, Wheater, Woodgate (Huth 71), Pogatetz,
O'Neil, Boateng, Rochemback, Downing, Tuncay (Johnson 90), Aliadiere
(Arca 80), Steele, Lee
THE FIRST HALF
The game kicked off five minutes late, possibly to ensure that
the Boro wouldn't be 1-0 down by 1:35pm. As it turned out, had
the game kicked off on time, it would be Arsenal who would be
1-0 down after five muntues.
In the opening minutes Gary O'Neil's attempts to stop Gael Clichy
from playing was working and the Boro more than matched the
title challengers.
The Boro started brightly. Downing attempted a cross that Tuncay
nearly connected with. Thirty seconds later Aliadiere's strong
run across the box flummoxed Kolo Toure who attempted a challenge.
The referee pointed to the spot immediately.
Stewart Downing bravely stood up to take the spot kick. Almunia
got something on his left-footed attempt but it was not enough
and the ball nestled comfortably in the back of the net. Remarkably,
Middlesbrough were 1-0 up.
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Downing (pen), 4) ARSENAL 0
The crowd were now awakened and Aliadiere was on fire. He played
the ball into Tuncay who attempted a shot from twelve yards
out. Toure blocked the attempt and the danger was cleared by
the Gunners.
Arsenal's first attack came on eight minutes but it was comfortably
snuffed out by the Boro backline. From a subsequent free-kick
Toure had an attempt but it was blocked by Rochemback.
The Boro were stifling Arsenal, particularly the defence who
were nicking the ball of Emmanuel Adebayor and Da Silva Eduardo
with frequency.
On fourteen O'Neil's persistence in the Arsenal box won the
ball for the Boro. It broke fortuitously to Aliadiere and it
could have gone in had it not been for the alertness of Almunia.
Middlesbrough were getting into Arsenal's faces and they weren't
liking it. On sixteen the Boro broke through O'Neil and Aliadiere
before the ball was passed to Rochemback. His shot was high
and wide but the crowd still applauded at Boro's audacity.
Arsenal's defending was sloppy at best. On seventeen Toure's
clearance was blocked by Aliadiere, and he passed to Tuncay.
He passed to O'Neil whose cross outfoxed the Arsenal backline.
They conceded a corner but the Boro couldn't profit from this.
Arsenal were rattled. They were clearly out of sorts as they
were being profligate in their passing but Middlesbrough's policy
of getting at them was paying dividends. Unlike the Northern
Rock.
On twenty-one Tuncay's intricate play allowed a move to break
down when he should have passed to Downing, who was free and
in space. Still it was a testament to Boro's play that such
pedantry could be levelled as the whole side had been excellent
to this point.
Arsenal's first shot came on twenty-two when Tomasz Rosicky
attempted a long range effort that went wide. This was all we
had seen of Arsenal as an attacking force as the Boro were keeping
the visitors on the back foot.
On twenty-four Downing's cross was met by O'Neil whose header
tried to set up Tuncay. He misjudged it however and it floated
over the bar.
Twenty seconds later Toure's strong defensive play prevented
Arsenal from conceding a second when Downing tore through the
Gunners' defence and darted into the box. Things were still
looking shaky for the away side.
Arsenal's first corner came on twenty-seven when Downing opted
for safety first in the Boro box. It was aimed towards Gilberto
but it was headed out strongly. Another corner ensued but Woodgate's
second strong header in the space of a minute cleared the danger.
On twenty-nine a long ball almost broke the Boro backline apart
as Adebayor got himself in between Woodgate and Wheater. Thankfully
for the Boro, nothing came from this but it was a worrying development.
On the half hour mark Rosicky won a free-kick for Arsenal around
twenty yards out. Toure struck it but the wall did its job well
and cleared.
On thirty-two a long throw from Pogatetz was flicked on by Tuncay.
Aliadiere attempted the shot but Gallas blocked, injuring the
Frenchman in the process. He was reintroduced to the play minutes
later.
Three minutes later Adebayor got above Woodgate in the box and
powered his header narrowly wide. The Gunners were now starting
to come into the game.
On thirty-seven Boro were awarded a free-kick thirty yards out,
which Downing hit. There was not enough on it and Almunia comfortably
saved.
The Boro then had a spell of pressure. On thirty-eight Tuncay
crossed the ball into the box aiming for Aliadiere but Almunia
comfortably collected. Tuncay should have passed it to Downing
who was on for a tap in.
A minute later Tuncay darted into the box and attempted a shot
that went wide.
From Almunia's goal kick the Boro broke once more and a corner
was conceded by the visitors. Wheater attacked the ball from
Downing's kick as Arsenal struggled to defend. Almunia eventually
caught it but the Gunners were looking very shaky.
Arsenal tried to break but Emmanuel Eboue's shot from the left
was easily gathered by Turnbull. Two minutes later Boro's defence
gave Clichy no options in attack, forcing him into conceding
the goal kick.
Arsenal finished the half the stronger but the Boro's defence
was absorbing it well. The Gunners were trying their intricate
passing but Downing's strength won his side a goal kick just
before the half time whistle blew. The Boro left the field to
a standing ovation from the fans.
THE SECOND HALF
Arsenal made one change going into the second period of play
- Nicklas Bendtner for Eduardo. The Boro remained unchanged.
The visitors came at the Boro in the second half, with tempo
and tails raised. Clichy tried a cross but it was blocked by
Boateng.
The Boro broke from this through Downing and Aliadiere. The
Frenchman turned and passed to O'Neil who in turn passed to
Rochemback who attempted a shot. He failed.
On forty-nine Rochemback tore through the Arsenal backline and
darted into the box. Tuncay held his run magnificently and invited
the pass from the Brazilian, who delivered. The Turk was on
to make it 2-0 but his shot went across the goal rather than
in it and the chance went begging. Hopefully the Boro wouldn't
rue this at the end of the game.
Two minutes later the Boro were awarded a free-kick thirty yards
out after a foul from Toure. Rochemback blasted an attempt towards
goal but it rebounded off the wall and to safety.
On fifty-two Downing set up Wheater who cut through the ball
with considerable power. It was on target too but the Arsenal
defence blocked it. Credit must also go to Emmanuel Pogatetz
who dragged three defenders away from the young centre-back,
to allow him to have his shot.
The Boro were coming at Arsenal again. Another Rochemback free
kick almost set up Pogatetz. At the same time Downing was fouled
by Eboue who should have been sent off for his cynical challenge.
The referee failed to see his studs up however.
Boro were applying more pressure on Arsenal than the average
Geordie on Allardyce. Tuncay passed to Aliadiere who spun the
ball across the eighteen yard line to O'Neil. The former Portsmouth
man knew that Boateng was behind him so he allowed the ball
to run through his legs and to the Boro captain. His shot from
twenty yards was blasted wide.
Arsene Wenger knew his side were in trouble and brought on Neves
Denilson and Theo Walcott in an attempt to redress the balance.
Eboue and Lassana Diarra were the ones replaced.
It did little to stem the red tide. Aliadiere won a corner on
sixty-two but Gallas managed to nip in before Wheater could
power it towards goal.
The fear was that Boro were starting to sit a little too deep,
allowing Arsenal the chance to cross into the box. This may
have been due to tired Boro legs but Bendtner's shot on sixty-five
was a warning. It did go wide but it was the first time Arsenal
had cut through the Boro all game.
The game fell a little flat around the seventy minute mark although
Arsenal were starting to come into it. On this mark Walcott
crossed the ball into the Boro box and it looped into the air.
It was difficult for Turnbull to collect but collect he did.
On seventy-one Young fed Aliadere's pace by dinking the ball
over the Arsenal defence. He tried to hold the ball up and forced
the Gunners into conceding a corner. At the same time Robert
Huth replaced Jonathan Woodgate in defence.
From the set piece the ball broke to Gary O'Neil who attempted
a shot. The save from Almunia was superb but Tuncay reacted
the quickest and put the ball into the roof of the net from
a tight angle. The Boro were two in front and Tuncay had made
it two in two games.
MIDDLESBROUGH 2 (Tuncay, 72) ARSENAL 0
And still the Boro came. A cross came in from the left and had
it not been for Bacary Sagna, Downing would have had a free
shot from four yards out. Arsenal broke from this but the move
broke down.
On seventy six Walcott had a one-two with Adebayor but O'Neil
forced the England youngster wide. He chipped the ball into
the box and Turnbull was alert to it, tipping it over the bar.
Nothing came from the corner.
A minute later Toure had a long-range shot that didn't threaten
the Boro.
The return of Julio Arca was heralded on the eightieth minute
when he replaced the industrious Aliadiere. The Frenchman had
been suffering from cramp but had been inspirational for the
Boro against his former team. The applause for both players
was immense.
It was a game of nullification from here. The Boro were out-fighting
Arsenal and were preventing them from approaching the eighteen
yard box, let alone them having an attempt.
On eighty-six, however, Bentdner passed the ball to Adebayor
who fluffed his shot when he should have done better. This was
created by Emmanuel Pogatetz being out of position after he
was in the opposite box trying to score a third for Boro.
Two minutes later Arsenal won a corner through Denilson's shot
that was blocked by Arca. It was taken short but nothing resulted
from it as Adebayor once more lost his composure in the box.
Tuncay was replaced by Adam Johnson shortly after and he left
the pitch to a standing ovation. Perhaps things were now turning
for the Boro.
"Top of the League, you're having a laugh" was the Boro fans'
mantra as they sang the last four minutes of the game away.
But perhaps the Boro were singing too soon. br>
In the dying moments Clichy passed to Rosicky who blasted a
right-footed shot past Turnbull from eighteen yards. It was
not what the visitors deserved and it was sad that the Boro
were not to keep a clean sheet but this was the last kick of
the game and ultimately, the goal didn't matter.
MIDDLESBROUGH 2 ARSENAL 1 (Rosicky, 90+4)
On 11 February 2006 Middlesbrough were odds against to beat
another title challenging side at home. The previous form had
been shaky and the so called "experts" wrote the side off.
That day Rochemback scored in the third minute and the side
notched up an unexpected 3-0 home win against Chelsea. The team
then used this to power up the League, get to an FA Cup semi
final and the UEFA Cup Final.
Today's defeat of Arsenal should hopefully do the same thing.
It was our first win in over three months and has seen us power
out of the bottom three. Every single player put their all in
today and if Middlesbrough can match this performance week-in
week-out then Premiership safety should be assured.
That's not to say that there aren't problems. Had we had a top-draw
striker Arsenal would have been out of sight by half time. But
today the tactics were executed perfectly and in stifling Arsenal's
play we looked comfortable for the vast majority of the game.
Next week the Boro are away at Derby and that is arguably a
more important game than this one. Yet if we can match today's
performance at Pride Park then with our new-founded confidence,
everything should be fine.
Man of the Match: Jeremie Aliadiere. In a team
where every player was magnificent, the former Arsenal man was
a slight cut above. He harried, he hassled and he threatened
his former team, proving to them that they shouldn't have let
him go.
FAN REACTION
"What a fantastic game that was and well worth the wait for
a big, big win"
Deeno
"Arsenal were out-battled, out-fought and outclassed"
KendalBoro
"Roll on Derby"
kmorrisuk
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