Bookings: Ben Haim (39, foul), Solly (74, foul), Adomah (75, foul)

Sending Offs: Adomah (82, second yellow card, foul)

Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey) – Goodness knows how he failed to spot Bikey’s elbow on Bamford, and the error was compounded by his messy dismissal of Adomah 2

Attendance: 16,110

Entertainment: **

 

                        Charlton               Middlesbrough

Shots On             2                              1

Shots Off             1                              8

Corners               4                              6

Fouls                   12                           7

Offsides               1                              2

 

Charlton (4-4-2): Henderson 6; Solly 7, Bikey-Amougou 6, BEN HAIM 8, Wiggins 7; Gudmundsson 5 (Moussa 46, 6), Buyens 4, Jackson 6 (Tucudean 69, 5), Cousins 5; Bulot 5 (Wilson 84), Vetokele 4.

Subs (not used): Pope (gk), Morrison, Fox, Ahearne-Grant.

 

Middlesbrough (4-4-2):

Konstantopoulos: Was a bystander for 90 minutes, but then sprang to life in stoppage time to make a brilliant save from Wilson 8

Nsue: Doesn’t normally play at right-back, but looked perfectly at home as he defended resolutely and held his position well 7

Omeruo: Another wonderfully-assured display from the Chelsea youngster, which was cut short late on through injury 7

Ayala: Marked Vetokele out of the game and was equally assured on the floor and in the air 7

Friend: Never allowed Gudmundsson or Moussa to get down the line and was his usual dynamic self on the overlap 7

Adomah: Tucked in much more than usual to give the midfield balance and came close with an early shot into the side-netting 7

CLAYTON: Had to assume extra defensive responsibilities in Leadbitter’s absence, and rose to the challenge with aplomb 8

Tomlin: Started off deeper than he is normally is, but still tried to get himself forward and link play from midfield 6

Reach: Was a constant threat down the left-hand side in the first half, but tired and struggled to make an impact after the interval 6

Bamford: Was the liveliest of Boro’s attackers and came close with a couple of decent long-range efforts 6

Kike: Struggled to hold the ball up when faced with Bikey and Ben Haim, although curled narrowly over in the first half 5

Subs:

Gibson (for Omeruo, 70): Played in the period where Boro were under most pressure, but handled himself well 6

Leadbitter (for Kike, 76)

Wildschut (for Tomlin, 87)

(not used): Blackman (gk), Fredericks, Husband, Ledesma.

 

Man Of The Match: ADAM CLAYTON – Proved Boro can play with only one holding midfielder as he won a succession of key tackles and retained the ball well.