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Steve Marlet gets his 3rd goal in the Premiership
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Middlesbrough 2(1) Fulham 1(0)
ONE small step for Middlesbrough, one giant leap up the table. In a match in which
his side’s performance veered between the proficient and the pathetic, Steve
McClaren could celebrate last night moving into eleventh place in the FA Barclaycard
Premiership, leaping ahead of five other clubs, but no team suffers more from
a split personality.
While Fulham were left fuming by the inconsistencies of Dermot Gallagher, the
referee — Jean Tigana, the manager, was called upon to restrain his players
at the final whistle — here was another story of Middlesbrough’s fight
against themselves. They took and conceded the lead, worried themselves into incoherence,
incurred the wrath of a crabby crowd and finally provided a scrappy, happy ending.
“This was a massive, massive win for us,” McClaren said. Amid the pandemonium,
the resilience was something to revel in. Middlesbrough not only climbed above
Everton, Southampton, Ipswich Town, West Ham United and Sunderland, they are now
nine points clear of second-bottom Derby County and beginning to contemplate safety.
“We’ve got to build on this,” McClaren said. “Every game
is a pressure game from here, but we’re showing spirit and commitment.
I can’t criticise my players for anything.”
There were similar sentiments, from Tigana, although Gallagher’s frailties
were a matter of revolt to the placid Frenchman. For him and, indeed, most impartial
observers, the turning point came when Frank Queudrue, Middlesbrough’s
last defender, committed a foul and, with Barry Hayles about to shoot, a free
kick was given. The complaints were two-fold; Queudrue had been booked and play
should have continued.
“I don’t understand why he (Gallagher) stopped the game, because
we had the advantage,” Tigana said. “We could have scored and it changed
the game. Why was there no yellow card? If the player had been sent off, we
could have put another striker on. I tried to ask the referee, but he didn’t
want to speak to me.”
A bizarre episode was compounded by other mistakes, blatant or otherwise. While
Tigana would not dwell on it, there was more than a hint of offside to Middlesbrough’s
first goal, scored in the 26th minute by Alen Boksic, pleasing to the eye though
it was.
| Match
Stats |
Boro |
Fulham |
| Goal
attempts |
11 |
10 |
| On
Target |
5 |
5 |
| Hit
woodwork |
1 |
0 |
| Fouls |
13 |
14 |
| Offsides |
6 |
3 |
| Corners |
7 |
10 |
| Yellows |
1 |
2 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source:
www.sports.com |
|
An attacking partnership of Boksic and Benito Carbone, paired together for
the first time since the latter signed on loan from Bradford City, was viewed
as a necessary gamble in the light of the Croatia striker’s frustrating
injuries and McClaren’s inability to summon goals.
Boksic has seldom played with the vim and vigour that he dredged up against
Fulham and, having run across the Fulham defence after collecting a diagonal
pass from Carbone to check into the penalty area, his chip over Edwin van der
Sar was exquisite.
Some effervescent football from McClaren’s team, as well as a goal against
the division’s most niggardly club, had offered encouragement. There were
flashes of brilliance from Carbone — whose substitution was roundly jeered
— and perspiration, epitomised by Paul Ince, elsewhere, but, as so often
in the past two years, hesitation was close behind.
As their nerves grew, triggered by an edgy crowd, Alain Goma headed on Steed
Malbranque’s inswinging corner in the 57th minute and Steve Marlet equalised,
completely unmarked, from close range. The same combination might have mustered
another goal shortly afterwards, had Mark Schwarzer not saved brilliantly from
Marlet.
Suddenly Middlesbrough rediscovered themselves. Ugo Ehiogu struck the crossbar
with a firm header and, in the 77th minute, Szilard Nemeth — irony of ironies,
Carbone’s replacement — capitalised on some fine work by Jonathan
Greening and Boksic to tear forward and slip his shot inside the near post.
Middlesbrough are unbeaten in their past eight matches but remain a team of
contradictions.
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 7 — R Stockdale 6, U Ehiogu 7,
G Southgate 8, F Queudrue 5 — J Greening 5, P Ince 8, R Mustoe 6 (sub: D
Murphy, 61min 5), N Whelan 5 (sub: D Windass, 70 5) — B Carbone 7 (sub: S
Nemeth, 70 6), A Boksic 8. Substitutes not used: M Crossley, J Gavin. Booked:
Queudrue.
FULHAM (4-4-2): E van der Sar 5 — S Finnan 5, A Melville 6, A Goma
6, R Brevett 5 — S Legwinski 5, S Davis 7, S Malbranque 8, J Collins 7 (sub:
L Saha, 79) — S Marlet 7, B Hayles 6. Substitutes not used: M Taylor, J Harley,
A Ouaddou, C Willock. Booked: Legwinski, Hayles.
Referee: D Gallagher 3