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MIDDLESBROUGH 1 WEST HAM 2 - MATCH REPORT
Barclays Premier League, Riverside Stadium, Saturday 22nd December 2007
Andy Morgan
Gary O'Neil was the major absence from the Boro line-up for the game against West Ham. The Boro hoped they could make it three straight wins but it would be difficult without the talismanic hard-working midfielder.
Luke Young and Emmanuel Pogatetz started in the right and left back positions respectively. Jonathan Woodgate and David Wheater were at the central of defence.
Stewart Downing, another injury doubt, was passed fit to play and started on the left side of midfield. The midfield also heralded the return of Julio Arca who partnered George Boateng in the central due to the suspension of Rochemback. Adam Johnson started on the right.
Up front was the usual pairing of Jeremie Aliadiere and Tuncay Sanli.
Schwarzer, Young, Woodgate (Huth 62), Wheater, Pogatetz, Johnson (Cattermole 76), Boateng, Arca, Downing, Aliadiere, Tuncay, Turnbull, Shawky, Lee
THE FIRST HALF
The Boro started brightly, winning their first corner within the opening three minutes. It was taken badly but the Boro's play to win the set-piece was promising, with Arca and Tuncay linking nicely.
Neither side was passing the ball well in the early stages but Arca and Tuncay again linked up well on four minutes but the Turk was flagged offside.
The Boro won their second corner on six minutes, with Pogatez's ball into the box being a peach that denied Downing a strong goalscoring opportunity. Arca and Johnson were also involved in the good Boro possessive play.
On eight Aliadiere delayed his header too long after some good work from Arca and Johnson. Hayden Mullins managed to block. The Boro looked dangerous on the break and there were arguably too many options ahead of Johnson. When the ball eventually broke to Tuncay, the Boro won another corner but Matthew Upson cleared the West Ham's lines from it.
The Boro weren't giving West Ham enough time to pick their passes, which was why they were dominating the game. On twelve the Boro won another corner but after it was cleared Downing showed some classic skill by delivering the ball first time from the right channel. Aliadiere was very close to connecting with it.
West Ham's first corner came on fourteen when a Solano's excellent cross was headed over his own bar by Woodgate. Woodgate defended the set-piece expertly.
On sixteen Julio Arca cut out a dangerous West Ham cross that was destined for the feet of Freddie Ljungberg. Apart from this, the Boro were predominantly dominant, with Johnson and Downing creating most of the Boro's attempts.
On twenty Stewart Downing checked into the central of midfield and had the opportunity to finish it on the left-hand side of midfield. He decided to beat another defender before unleashing his shot, which went high and wide.
The Boro won their next corner on twenty-five after some tepid approach play forced West Ham into conceding the set-play. It was easily cleared but Johnson managed to cross into the opposition box. Unfortunately he couldn't beat the first defender.
On twenty-six another cross came into the West Ham box but Aliadiere couldn't get on the end of it. At the other end Henri Kamara wasn't given offside when he perhaps should have been but Schwarzer came off his line quickly and saved the day.
Thirty seconds later a Ljungberg shot forced the corner but it was headed clear by the Boro. The ball fell to Mullins twenty yards out but his ball was blasted high over the bar.
On twenty-nine Tuncay tried to get the ball back into play quickly after a throw-in was conceded. This released Downing who attempted a shot from thirty yards out. It was wider than a Geordie lass in the Bigg Market.
On the half-hour mark Boateng won himself a yellow card for tackling Ljungberg. The West Ham player made a meal of it and now the Boro captain was suspended for one game, due to his picking up a fifth booking of the season. The resultant free-kick delivered little for the Hammers.
On thirty-three Solano took a poor corner that went straight into the arms of Schwarzer. At the other end Julio Arca chipped the ball into the opposition box, looking for Aliadiere. Robert Green saw the danger though and gathered.
On thirty-eight Tuncay set Aliadiere free but Jonathan Spector tripped the fleeing Frenchman yet didn't receive a booking for it.
The resulting free-kick was well worked though. The delivery from Downing was excellent and Aliadiere drifted behind the Hammers' defence. This caught the Londoners off-guard and he put the ball back into the six yard box. Wheater was on hand to bury it. The Boro were deservedly in front.
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Wheater, 39) WEST HAM UNITED 0
Julio Arca was playing like a man possessed. In defence, in attack, he was here, there, every erm, bloody where. Julio! Julio! The crowd were warming to his efforts though as he was an increasing influence on the game.
Four minutes after Boro scored, West Ham did the same. Kamara brought the ball down after he got the wrong side of David Wheater. He snatched himself back on to the right side of Wheater and laid the ball off to Dean Ashton. His volley from the edge of the area was taken well and the Hammers were level. It was an unstoppable effort.
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 WEST HAM UNITED 1 (Ashton, 43)
The Boro had lost their heads at this stage and Kamara came at the Boro once more. Thankfully Schwarzer saved. This was the last action of the game and the Boro sadly went into half-time level.
THE SECOND HALF
Very little of substance happened in the opening exchanges of the second forty-five. Three minutes in Kamara wriggled clear of Wheater. He tried to pass to Solano but Schwarzer read it like a copy of his own book and gathered comfortably.
A minute later Downing tried to feed Aliadiere but West Ham cleared it easily. The Boro broke back from this with some good play between Arca and Young. The ball broke to Downing but his good ball was defended by Ljungberg. Nothing came from the resultant corner.
On fifty-two a Solano free-kick necessitated a spectacular save from Schwarzer. The attempt was central and the Aussie may have seen it late but it was a top-drawer shot from the former Newcastle man and Schwarzer needed to be alert. Nothing came from the resultant corner.
On fifty-four Ashton took one of the poorest free-kicks in the history of free-kicks, blasting the ball straight down the throat of Doris in Row Z from thirty-five yards out. Poor Doris. First Rochemback and now this. Life just wasn't being kind to her.
Johnson's trickery beat George McCartney and he crossed a strong ball into the West Ham box. West Ham cleared.
The game was sloppier than the average Christmas vomit as both sides were making more mistakes than Britney Spears. On fifty-nine, however, Boro's patience in possession almost rewarded them as Downing's reverse pass almost let in Tuncay who nearly scored. Had he been more alert to it he would have scored.
In other news Jonathan Woodgate was injured and was to replaced by Robert Huth. Things were not looking good for the England international and he was substituted on sixty-two.
On sixty-one, however, Tuncay was completely clear and screaming for the ball from Johnson. In the end the youngster could not spot the Turk and little happened as a result.
Aliadiere and Tuncay were chasing everything down, disallowing West Ham many opportunities. On sixty-three Mullins teed up Solano twenty-five yards out and suffered the wrath of many Boro challenges for his efforts. Solano's shot, meanwhile, was high, wide and rubbish.
The quality of this game was a poor advertisement of the Premier League. On sixty-seven Ljungberg hit the ball on the volley and the attempt was so poor it didn't even go out, not even for a throw-in.
Some quality did come a minute later however as Downing darted down the left and managed to hook the ball into the box from an almost futile position. Pogatetz didn't expect the ball from that position so he couldn't muster a shot.
On seventy Aliadiere did Lucas Neill for pace and darted into the box. The ball was eventually cleared though and Robert Huth ultimately attempted the volley from forty yards out. It was never going anywhere and unsurprisingly it didn't.
Attrition was the long word of the day as both sides were cancelling each other out. On seventy-three Ljungberg crossed the ball into the box but Pogatetz was up to it, clearing it confidently and denying Solano at the back post.
On seventy-six Lee Cattermole replaced Adam Johnson in midfield after being tortured by Lucas Neill for most of the game.
On seventy-eight Downing's peachy cross was cleared by Upson. The ball broke to Luke Young who punted his thirty-yard effort like an American Football field goal.
On eighty-four Boateng attempted to dart into the West Ham box but the move broke down when he fannied about. At the other end Kamara passed the ball back to Dean Ashton in the Boro box and the former Crewe man was flagged for offside.
A minute later Kamara took half a century to leave the field after being subsituted before Downing had another long-range attempt that troubled the crowd more than it troubled the goal.
On the stroke of full-time Lucas Neill passed the ball to Scott Parker on the right hand side of the box. He potentially handballed it before dancing past David Wheater and burying the ball beyond Mark Schwarzer. It was a true hammer blow.
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 WEST HAM UNITED 2 (Parker, 90)
Deep into stoppage time Boateng's battling qualities won a corner for the home side. Nothing came from the corner after the West Ham keeper opted to punch. This was the last action of the game.
West Ham's winner came out of the blue and was undeserved. Both sides cancelled each other out and no team deserved to lose.
Like at Derby last week, the Boro weren't particularly inspired. Today's game was a must not lose that in the end we lost. Now we must go to Birmingham in fear of relegation once more and looking for a win. How we bounce back to this, only time will tell.
Man of the match: Julio Arca. His first full return from injury saw the former Sunderland man contribute significantly in both attack and defence.
POST MATCH REACTION
"Both teams played very poorly today and neither deserved to win"
westham
"Southgate is a joke. Replace Johnson with Cattermole and have Cattermole, Boateng and Arca all on the park with no attack? Doesn't he continually say he wants attacking football blah blah blah? Boateng is the slowest and most disgraceful player in the whole Premiership.
demonski
By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.
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