Five Things We Learnt From Birmingham 2 Middlesbrough 2

Birmingham    2        Middlesbrough    2

                    Gleeson 33 Davis 68                                       Rhodes 40 Ramirez 57

Could this turn out to be one of the most costly mistakes in football? Middlesbrough fans will certainly hope not.

Boro Players Celebrate Gaston Ramirez's Second Half Goal
(Picture from BBC Sport) 

Lineman Tom Nield’s decision to disallow Daniel Ayala’s goal in the 70th minute of last night’s game with Birmingham could all be forgotten about if Boro beat Brighton next weekend and end their seven year drought outside the Premier League.

If that doesn’t happen, then Nield could quickly become public enemy number one on Teesside after replays showed he got the offside decision catastrophically wrong.

Boro fell behind at St Andrew's following Stephen Gleeson’s fine strike in the 33rd minute. Jordan Rhodes equalised seven minutes later, following blunder from Birmingham keeper Adam Legzdins, before Gaston Ramirez headed the visitors ahead from close range after half time.

The goal fest continued as David Davis drew the side’s level again before Ayala appeared to have restored Boro’s advantage, when he swept a low shot into the bottom corner of the net. Yet he was incorrectly flagged offside.

So was it a point gained or two points dropped for Aitor Karanka’s men? Well they have moved back to the top of the Championship, due to promotion rivals Burnley and Brighton not playing until Monday, and if they beat Brighton on the final day of the season next week they will be guaranteed promotion.

Here are just a couple of things we learnt from last night’s game, ahead of that all-important clash at the Riverside next weekend.

1.                   Boro Need To Start Quicker And Stop Sitting On Leads

Boro started slowly at St Andrews’ and it took a Birmingham goal to kick them into action. Once they had recovered and taken the lead they sat too deep and invited pressure, allowing Gary Rowett’s side to peg them back.

Against Brighton next weekend that could be fatal to Boro’s promotion hopes, not to mention extremely nerve-racking for the Riverside crowd.

2.                   Friend Is A Big Loss

The popular left back missed last weekend’s goalless draw with Ipswich with a hamstring injury and was absent once again last night.

Riche De Laet isn’t a bad replacement but doesn’t inject the same urgency and drive into a game on the left hand side. Boro fans can only hope Friend is fit for the Brighton game in a weeks’ time, or is at least back for the play-offs if they need to do it the hard way.  

3.                   Wrong Decisions Can Make All The Difference

At the end of the day it is a 46 game season and you can’t simply blame the officials if your team doesn’t achieve its goals. However there is no denying that wrong decisions, like the one last night, can prove pivotal. Of course there will always be mistakes and linesmen have an extremely difficult job, but to get a decision that wrong was inexcusable.

Hopefully it doesn’t turn out to have a huge bearing on one of the closest promotion races in recent history, and hopefully there is no repeat in the two games on Monday - featuring Brighton and Burnley – or next weekend.

4.                   Boro Need To Persist With Rhodes, But Nugent Can’t Be Dismissed

Rhodes missed two one on one chances when the game was goalless before he equalised courtesy of Adam Legzdins’ fumble. Even so Rhodes continued to find good positions inside the penalty area and did well to head the ball back to Gaston Ramirez who at the time put Boro in front.

Karanka is blessed that he has two worthy striking options in Rhodes and David Nugent, however for the second game in succession Nugent was only introduced with less than five minutes remaining. Boro fans have already seen the type of impact Nugent can provide due to his energy and tenacity upfront, however he needs more time to express himself if he is coming off the bench.

5.                   Brighton Will Be Huge  

When Boro drew with Ipswich at the Riverside last weekend and the final results elsewhere came through, everyone knew that all would be decided on the final day.

The game between the two promotion chasers was sold out weeks ago, with Brighton also selling out there full allocation. Depending on Burnley’s results, it is likely to be a winner takes all affair at the Riverside with promotion on the line. How are the nerves?

Boro’s Best: Gaston Ramirez

There were a number of good performances from Boro players in the second half. Albert Adomah came alive and provided some good crosses from the right, Daniel Ayala made some vital tackles and interceptions at the back, while captain Grant Leadbitter kept things ticking in midfield.

However Ramirez was once again the catalyst in the Boro attack and continuously popped up in good areas, including when he arrived in the box to head the visitors ahead.

Thorn In The Side: David Cotterill

The Welsh winger was a menace in the second half on the right hand side and provided a pin point cross to set up David Davis, who subsequently scored Birmingham’s equaliser.

Cotterill almost found a winner for the hosts when his powerful free kick was parried by Dimi Konstantopulos before Boro were able to clear the danger.