Middlesbrough 1 Aston Villa 1

IN the first two years of management under Gareth Southgate, Middlesbrough preserved Premier League status on the penultimate day of the season.

That trend, however, has failed to continue in 2009. Not even victory on the final weekend may be enough for Boro.

No matter how unlikely it seems, a substantial win at West Ham next Sunday, coupled with defeats for Newcastle and Hull, would ensure topflight football will be played at the Riverside Stadium next season.

After losing 3-1 at St James Park seven days ago, Middlesbrough’s hopes were shot. Yet, on Saturday against Aston Villa, they squandered a onegoal lead for the second time in seven days.

When Tuncay Sanli had somehow directed a sublime overhead kick into Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel’s bottom right corner of the net inside 14 minutes, there was renewed hope from within the home sections of the Riverside.

But, despite a pretty dominant opening half from Middlesbrough, Villa were allowed to regroup and reshuffle at halftime before John Carew equalised just before the hour.

Only the ineptitude of Newcastle and Hull prevented Middlesbrough’s fate from being sealed, although the majority of realistic fans on Teesside would have to accept the Championship beckons.

“Mathematically the chance is still there. But it is going to be very hard because it is not up to us and we are relying on Hull and Newcastle to lose as well,” said Julio Arca, after making his first start in more than two months.

“If we’d have played like that all season we wouldn’t be in this trouble. Last summer when I looked at this squad I didn’t think for a moment that the season would end like this.

But nobody feels sorry for you in the Premier League. If you don’t win you have to pay the consequences.”

With Marvin Emnes – his second successive impressive outing – a nuisance to the Aston Villa defence, Middlesbrough look to have unearthed a rough diamond at just the wrong time.

But considering the Dutchman cost £3.2m last summer, at a time when Southgate had little to spend, it seems strange that Emnes was not given a chance before the 36th game of a depressing campaign.

And while the 20-year-old failed to score for the second match in a row, he provided enough energy and presence of mind in possession to suggest he should have been called into action earlier.

It would be unfair to suggest that Middlesbrough are in the position they are because they’ve failed to hand Emnes his first start before May - there have clearly been numerous other factors.

The most telling of them all has been a failure to turn possession into goals; something which cost Middlesbrough dearly again against Villa.

Arca, while not giving up hope, is stunned that he is having to brace himself for his third relegation in nine years playing in English football, having previously suffered the embarrassment in 2003 and 2006 with Sunderland.

“It’s incredibly frustrating to be in this position again because I’m older now – but it doesn’t get any easier to take,” said Arca.

“It hurts more because we have a team of international footballers here and we weren’t expecting to go down. We have great players here but for some reason we haven’t performed as well as we should.

“It’s incredible to think that we were eighth after winning at Villa in November.

“We played really well that night. If you keep thinking about the past it makes you even more frustrated.”

Arca’s non appearance in recent months has been one of surprise, particularly given his experience of relegation battles and being surrounded by relatively young professionals.

But he brought tenacity back into the midfield against Villa, with his awareness having an important role in the opening goal.

The South American picked out Downing unmarked on the left and the winger cut inside before his shot was half blocked by James Milner, only for Tuncay to shape up for the stunning aerial finish.

But, when Downing had to be carried off after a collision with Stilian Petrov, Southgate’s plans were thrown into disarray.

Marlon King was introduced to the forward line, with the lively Tuncay-Emnes partnership broken up to allow the former Fenerbahce striker to fill in on the left.

And while Friedel had to make a low save to deny Justin Hoyte and Emnes was denied a penalty when Carew appeared to trip him in the area, Villa boss Martin O’Neill was able to influence things at half-time.

The Northern Irishman, who turned down the chance to manage Middlesbrough after Steve McClaren left, changed to a straight-forward 4-4-2 system and 12 minutes later Carew found the bottom corner, after King had failed to clear a loose ball.

Villa could have won it, with Brad Jones making numerous solid blocks, but instead Middlesbrough can at least head for West Ham in some hope.

And Arca, knowing they need a five-goal swing in their favour at the very least, is hopeful that Manchester United’s reserves will still be a force at the KC Stadium next Sunday.

“I’m sure Man United will put out a second team at Hull next Sunday because Alex Ferguson won’t risk any of his big players three days before the Champions League final,” said Arca, a good friend of Carlos Tevez.

“If I was Alex Ferguson I would do exactly the same thing. But Man United’s second team may be good enough to win the Premier League anyway.”