West Brom 0 Middlesbrough 0
Boro remained unbeaten in the Premier League after three
games following an uneventful goalless draw away at West Brom.
To the neutral, this will have been viewed as a rather drab
affair between two sides who lacked any sort of quality in the third.
In truth it’s still a bit of a mystery how the match was
chosen to be televised on Sky Sports’
Super Sunday, yet for Aitor Karanka’s side this was far from a bad result.
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Brad Guzan makes a save to deny James McClean
(Picture from Sky Sports)
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A point away from home is never a bad one, especially in the
Premier League, and it now means that Boro have taken five points from a
possible nine going into next week’s international break.
West Brom may have edged the first half in terms of chances,
yet Boro defended well throughout, with Adam Clayton and Adam Forshaw
protecting the back four effectively all afternoon.
The one concern for the Boro boss will have been the service
up to Alvaro Negredo, who fed off scraps for most of the game, as most of Boro’s
crosses from wide areas were regularly overcooked or hit the first man.
Even so, West Brom boss Tony Pulis will no doubt be the more
disappointed manager following goalless stalemate.
This was a game which his side would have been expected to
win, yet after a promising 20-minute spell, in which West Brom pressed high up
the pitch and looked a threat, their performance tailed off significantly.
In the end both sides appeared happy to settle for a point
and neither showed the sort of ambition which is required to win a Premier
League game.
Boro can take solace from their first clean sheet of the
campaign, despite the fact that first choice goalkeeper Victor Valdes and stand-in
captain George Friend were both out injured.
That meant Brad Guzan kept his place in goal, while Antonio
Barragan was shifted out to left back. Daniel Ayala returned from an ankle injury to
partner Ben Gibson in defence.
Pulis made three changes from the side which lost at home to
Everton in the league last weekend, as Jonas Olsson, Craig Gardner and Saido
Berahino all dropped to the bench.
That meant a debut for 18-year-old Sam Field in midfield, as
Brendan Galloway and James McClean also came in.
It didn’t take long for referee Anthony Taylor to dish out the
first yellow card of the afternoon, when Ayala flew into a crunching challenge on
Galloway after just two minutes.
Moments later the visitors were nearly undone by a
lung-busting run from McClean, who ran with the ball from inside his own half
before cutting in from the left and firing wide.
On 11 minutes the Irish winger came close again. McClean was
picked out by Darren Fletcher inside the penalty area but Guzan did well to
come off his line and make a low save with his feet.
Boro were clearly trying to start a lot of their attacks by
passing out from the back and they were nearly forced onto a mistake on 21
minutes.
Gibson seemed to change his mind about a pass which he was going
to make and lost possession to Fletcher deep inside the Boro half.
From a promising position the Scottish midfielder over hit
his cross and the visitors were let off the hook.
Boro’s best chance of the first half came when Negredo spun away
Gareth McAuley on the halfway line, which opened up some space for the Spaniard
to run into.
However, the striker hesitated when he approached the
penalty area and the backtracking defender was allowed to recover.
In the opening 45 minutes Galloway and Matt Phillips had
combined well on Albion’s left hand side. Ten minutes after the restart the
latter pounced on a loose ball and cut inside on to his right foot but his
effort was blocked.
Boro had a couple of chances late on but Cristhian Stuani’s
shot was straight at keeper Ben Forster. Ayala then registered another effort
on target after a goalmouth scramble but Foster held it easily.
The draw means that Boro have now taken four points from a
possible six on their travels. They can now look forward to a home clash with
Crystal Palace in two weeks’ time.
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