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MIDDLESBROUGH 8 MANCHESTER CITY 1 - MATCH REPORT
Barclays Premier League, Sunday 11th May 2008, The Riverside
Andy Morgan
Gareth Southgate made no changes from the side that started against Portsmouth last week.
This meant that Mark Schwarzer, who could be playing his last game for the Boro, started in goal.
At the back there was Luke Young, Chris Riggott, David Wheater and Emmanuel Pogatetz whilst Tuncay and Afonso Alves started up front.
The impressive George Boateng started on the right, with Stewart Downing on the left. The Tippy Tappy twins of Julio Arca and Fabio Rochemback started in the middle.
Schwarzer, Young (McMahon 75), Riggott, Wheater, Pogatetz, Boateng, Rochemback, Arca (Johnson 61), Downing, Tuncay (Aliadiere 61), Alves, Turnbull, Taylor
THE FIRST HALF
The opening move of the game came from City in the third minute. Darius Vassell knocked the ball down to Benjani Mwaruwari and, had he taken a touch, he had a good chance of scoring. But he didn't and his shot went wide.
Boro won a corner in the seventh minute after a Richard Dunne half-clearance fell to George Boateng. Dunne made amends by diving in to block the midfielder's shot. From the set-piece, a comedy of errors in the City defence almost gifted Julio Arca the opening goal but his excellent curling shot drifted narrowly wide.
Downing launched a left-footed ball into the box shortly afterwards and had Tuncay got a touch, he would have opened the scoring for the home side. A corner ensued but it drifted hopelessly wide.
Benjani had to retire in the twelfth minute after being kneed in the back by Fabio Rochemback. He was replaced by Nery Castillo.
On fourteen Dunne was shown a straight red card after he pulled Tuncay back in the box. Riggott had dinked the ball over the defender and the Turk was running on to it before Dunne's intervention. A penalty was awarded and Downing made no mistake, burying the ball powerfully into the bottom right hand corner.
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Downing (pen), 16) MANCHESTER CITY 0
In response, City had a curling shot through Fernandes Gelson from twenty yards that Schwarzer comfortably saved. The keeper put his team back under pressure by passing to Pogatetz who was under pressure. He was forced into conceding a free kick and got a booking for his efforts. Martin Petrov's dead ball went high and wide.
City had another opportunity on twenty-six but Vassell was caught in two minds. He could have brought the ball down with his chest but instead he tried to be an acrobat. He only ended up looking like a clown as Boro were still walking a tightrope.
Arca had a shot at the other end of the pitch but this too flashed wide from twenty yards out.
On twenty-eight Tuncay had a shot from a Stewart Downing corner. The ball fell to the near post and the Turk snatched at it from six yards out. Andreas Isaksson in the City goal made the save.
The same man had a shot on thirty-four but all that came from it was a corner. From this, Rochemback almost had an effort but the City defence cleared.
Good work from Rochemback allowed Alves to score Boro's second. Under pressure from two City defenders, Rochemback had the awareness to pick out the Brazilian and he scored a pure striker's goal from eighteen yards out to bag his fourth of the season. 2-0 up before half time - could the Boro now score three for the first time this season?
MIDDLESBROUGH 2 (Alves, 37) MANCHESTER CITY 0
Boro had a strong passage of passing football which culminated in a good cross coming in from Luke Young. Vedran Corluka in the City defence had to be alert to clear otherwise Downing would have stole in to score Boro's third.
In the dying moments of the half Alves had a shot, despite having options in the box. He came in on his right foot as soon as he received the ball but he didn't get the desired power behind it.
Had it not been for Isaksson then Boateng too could have scored Boro's third. Downing chipped the ball in and Tuncay had a shot that deflected to the unmarked midfielder. His shot was excellent but so was Isaksson's save.
From the corner, Riggott nearly scored but he failed to make as clean a connection as he did last week against Portsmouth.
The Boro were slaughtering City by this stage and were using their extra man to a huge advantage. This game was starting to become one where Boro could effectively choose their scoreline. It was heading to be a massacre.
THE SECOND HALF
The second forty-five started in a low key manner but Downing won a free kick on the eighteen yard line in the fourth minute. Rochemback's fiercely struck shot was saved by Isaksson, despite Alves' attempts to drift across his line of sight to distract him.
At the other end Vassell had a diving effort that looked more comical than anything else whilst Micah Richards was taking a leaf out of Viduka's book after being heard to ask Gary Gill for a pie.
Wheater nearly scored on fifty-four. He showed great feet but perhaps he should have gone down under the Michael Ball tackle instead of attempting the shot. He had an effort though but great defending from Fernandes and Isaksson prevented him scoring.
The first corner of the second half came on fifty-seven and was awarded to the Boro. Downing swung it in but it went wide. Riggott recovered the situation before passing to Boateng. He crossed the ball back in and Stewart Downing responded with a fantastic volley to notch up ten goals for the season. It was also the first time the Boro had scored three goals this season. Renew your season cards now!!
MIDDLESBROUGH 3 (Downing, 58) MANCHESTER CITY 0
And then it started to get ridiculous. Alves found himself free and in a one-on-one situation with Isaksson after Arca's ball defeated the City defence. Fernandes almost cleared the ball off the line but thankfully it trickled over.
MIDDLESBROUGH 4 (Alves, 60) MANCHESTER CITY 0
It was subsitution time after this and Adam Johnson replaced Julio Arca whilst Jeremie Aliadiere came on for Tuncay.
The Boro had the ball in the net for a fifth time soon after. A great knock from Adam Johnson allowed him to score but Chris Riggott was flagged offside.
Good play from Johnson allowed Downing to have an opportunity to score his hat-trick. He was always leaning back however and his effort sailed over the bar.
The rout continued in the seventieth minute and Johnson grabbed an admittedly lucky goal. His shot from the edge of the box took a wicked deflection and buried in the back of Isaksson's net.
MIDDLESBROUGH 5 (Johnson, 70) MANCHESTER CITY 0
On seventy-five Tony McMahon came back for the first time in two years to replace Luke Young.
A rare foray into the Boro half for Man City culminated in an Elano shot from twenty-five yards. This went over the bar and tattooed Doris' specs to her face. It was tremendously lacklustre however and demonstrated the current malaise at Eastlands.
On seventy-nine Fabio Rochemback scored one of the goals of the season. His free kick (after Stephen Ireland fouled Boateng) had power and pace and left Isaksson stranded, who was beaten from thirty-five yards.
MIDDLESBROUGH 6 (Rochemback, 79) MANCHESTER CITY 0
On eighty-two Castillo blazed a shot wide when he took a touch too many. Not that it would have made too much of a difference.
A minute later Boateng had a shot that was blocked by Corluka. The ball broke to Aliadiere, who made no mistake from eighteen yards. He shot across Isaksson to score Boro's seventh.
MIDDLESBROUGH 7 (Aliadiere, 84) MANCHESTER CITY 0
City tried to stage a late comeback through Elano. He jinked past two Boro defenders before beating Schwarzer with an effort from twenty yards out.
MIDDLESBROUGH 7 MANCHESTER CITY 1 (Elano, 86)
The Boro weren't going to end there though. Great play from Stewart Downing took the ball off a City defender far too easily. Aliadiere rushed into the box and unselfishly teed up Alves, who notched his first Premier League hat-trick.
MIDDLESBROUGH 8 (Alves, 90) MANCHESTER CITY 1
This was the last action of a topsy-turvy game. In a season when the Boro couldn't score more than two goals in a game, they conspired to score eight on the final day. Weird result but at least the Boro fans will go into the close season on a high.
And even better - we finished 13th!!
Man of the Match: How could you pick anyone out? However, Alves deserves special praise for his hat-trick.
FAN REACTION
"Boro have been skating on thin ice all season but in the last minute pulled off the perfect figure of eight."
Westham
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