MIDDLESBROUGH harbour ambitions of earning themselves a place in next year’s Premier League as tonight’s opponents Fulham seem destined to do. The standards were high from both sides but one moment of quality in front of goal was the telling difference as the Cottagers edged the result at a rainy Riverside Stadium thanks to their striking talisman Aleksander Mitrovic.
The result sees Boro’s eight match winning run come to an end and they sacrifice their place in the play-offs.
Before the game, Chris Wilder made four bold changes to the starting line-up with one being enforced due to Isaiah Jones’ illness. He was missing his first game since October.
Neil Taylor and Lee Peltier came in at wing-back while Duncan Watmore and Andraz Sporar started as the two strikers. Harrison Reed found an early opening in the game for Fulham where his crossed was met by no one but apart from that, Boro’s early discipline and energy frustrated a talented Fulham side who swept the ball from side to side but made little of it in the opening exchanges.
In fact, it was Dael Fry who handed Fulham their first real chance. His backpass to a Boro man inadvertently made it’s way to Aleksander Mitrovic who was in an offside position. He’s shown more prowess in front of goal than any other Championship striker in history but couldn’t make the chance count as he dragged his shot wide from the edge of the box.
Anferee Dijksteel came to Boro’s rescue moments later when a Fulham carved open Boro as Mitrovic and Bobby Decordova-Reid freed up Fabio Carvalho in the box with two neat headers. The Dutchman managed to hook the ball away from the speedy winger in the nick of time.
Controversy could have marred the 23rd minute of the game as Harrison Reed felt the full force of Matt Crooks’ sliding challenge. Boro elected to play on but as soon as the Cottagers won the ball back, Reed sprang up into the action. Mitrovic latched onto Reed’s cross from the right but his header was easily saved by Joe Lumley.
Boro’s first real attempt at goal came from the industrious Watmore. Although, it wasn’t the usual type of effort the striker would have a go at but he struck from distance to see the ball deflected into Marek Rodak’s arms.
Their presence began to grow in the game and began to demonstrate their slick attacking play they’ve grown to adopt under Wilder. After failing to make the most of a counter attack, Tavernier cross into the box and Crooks latched onto the ball first time with a volley that was deflected just over the bar by Tim Ream.
Wilder’s side started the second half by giving the supporters a bit of scare. Or at least Lumley did when he let a cross slip through his fingers. Lucky for him, the ball rolled out for a corner with Fulham players lurking at the back post.
The Cottagers then sprang Boro on the counter attack but Decordova-Reid couldn’t make Boro pay. Harry Wilson’s reverse pass on the right freed up Kenny Tete at the back post. His low cross was an inch or two too far for the winger who stretched and diverted the ball wide.
As the rain tanked down on Teesside, Sporar’s eyes lit up as he received the ball on the edge of the box. His venomous shot zipped off the surface from 25 yards onto to see Rodak react quickly to palm the ball behind diving down to his right.
Just like the pouring rain, both teams efforts to get the first goal of the game were relentless. It proved to be Boro’s resilience that broke first. From a free-kick, Wilson whipped a ball with purpose into the box and Mitrovic glanced a header over Lumley and into the top right hand corner for his 38th of the season.
Boro hit back with an immediate chance as Sporar a header wide from Marc Bola’s cross wide. Super sub Josh Coburn was thrown into the mix and Boro weren’t going to give this game up without a fight. However, the clock was ticking on Boro’s fight to get an equaliser as they stared down the barrel of a rare home defeat.
Two minutes from time, they had their most glaring opportunity spurned by their young hero. Bola jinked his way passed Tete on the left and whipped a ball across goal. Coburn’s glancing header went the wrong side of the post inside the six yards box. Wilder was left with his head in his hands in the technical area.
With five minutes of stoppage time, there was enough to have one last push. Bola was once again the architect as his low cross was blocked by Tosin. It fell straight into the path of Watmore inside the box who could only blaze the ball over the bar. That was all she wrote for Boro who saw their winning run at the Riverside come to an end. They dropped out of the play-offs on a night where their end of season run in took another turn.
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