Bristol City 2-2 Middlesbrough: Boro fight back to earn a point

With the game at Ashton Gate approaching the hour mark, Boro were trailing 2-0 and starring down the barrel of a third successive defeat in the Championship. At that point of the game, below-par Boro hadn’t managed a single shot on target.

But from nothing, Ramsey steered in a Tommy Smith cross and gave Boro the lift they so desperately needed as they fought back to snatch what could turn out to be a pivotal point, the six-minute turnaround completed by Matt Crooks – just seconds before he looked set to be replaced by Cameron Archer.

Had this game drifted away from Boro as seemed certain after a quickfire Bristol City double at the end of the first half and start of the second, Michael Carrick’s team would suddenly have been anxiously checking over their shoulder. It would have been far too early to panic but there’d have been understandable nervousness on Teesside after what would have been three defeats on the bounce.

To get back to winning ways, Boro need to be better than they were at Ashton Gate. They need to rediscover their attacking spark and they undoubtedly need to tighten up at the back after conceding two dreadful goals. But there’s absolutely no questioning the spirit of the side and this will undoubtedly feel like a point gained rather than two dropped for Boro.

Carrick responded to the Good Friday Burnley loss by bringing Marcus Forss back into the team at the expense of Riley McGree and handing Crooks his first league start since the January defeat to Sunderland.

Bristol City are one of the few teams in the league with nothing on the line in the final weeks of the season but Boro know only too well that Nigel Pearson isn’t the type of character to let standards drop. They won impressively at Stoke on Good Friday and hadn’t lost at home since Boxing Day.

Had it not been for a brilliant early goalline clearance from Darragh Lenihan to deny Harry Cornick, they’d have made the perfect start as they looked to extend that record. The Robins had an even better chance soon after when Andreas Weimann looked certain to score inside the box only for Zack Steffen to make himself big and save superbly.

It was an open, end-to-end start. While Bristol City created those two early clear cut openings, Boro had their moments.

When Ryan Giles’ pinpoint cross found the head of Chuba Akpom six yards out, the outcome seemed inevitable, but the striker’s effort flashed just wide of Max O’Leary’s goal. Giles was finding room and causing problems. He fired just over and then teed up another chance when his cross from the left was nodded back across the face by Forss. Crooks used his big frame to make a nuisance of himself but couldn’t get a decisive touch on the ball.

The strong wind demanded the ball stay on the deck but even then conditions were hardly ideal. Jonny Howson was briefly unable to take a corner due to the ball repeatedly blowing away, much to the hilarity of the home fans nearby in the safe standing area of the ground.

The smiles would have been wiped off those faces had Crooks managed to keep his header down from Howson’s next corner, the striker’s effort just too high.

Instead, the home fans were celebrating in first half stoppage time. For Boro, it was another soft goal to concede. Lenihan slipped, McNair was beaten to the loose ball and Smith was sucked inside, leaving Sam Bell with the time and space to pick his spot.

The lead was doubled just four minutes into the second half.

Smith, who struggled throughout, conceded possession with a loose touch but there looked little danger when Giles was first to the ball and had the simple of option of passing it back to Steffen. Instead, he tried to play out of trouble, got himself into a mess, lost the ball and the hosts took full advantage. Bell’s cross was deflected into the path of Wells, free at the back post after Hackney had switched off. He teed up Cornick to tap into an empty net.

Boro needed a spark. And just as Carrick, Woodgate and Danks were locked in conversation no doubt plotting changes to try and get back into the game, the visitors halved the deficit through Ramsey. Hope.

Carrick turned to his bench and had Archer and Anfernee Dijksteel ready to come on. But those plans soon changed, for Boro drew level. Ramsey was the creator this time, playing it into the path of Crooks, who kept his cool. The substitutes sat down again.

Having lacked ideas in attack for almost an hour, Boro had suddenly come alive. They almost turned one point into three when substitute McGree broke free in the box in the dying minutes but O’Leary saved well. Archer thought he’d won it for Boro in stoppage time when he had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside.