WEST HAM 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1

SOMETIMES, it takes a fair amount of time to come to terms with new surroundings. West Ham are the starkest example of that, with their move to the former Olympic Stadium continuing to be a source of considerable angst and controversy, but in their own way, Middlesbrough have also spent the last two months acclimatising to an altered environment.

Seven games into their return to the Premier League though, and while the Teessiders have stalled somewhat after a successful start, they do not look out of place in the top tier. On the evidence of Saturday’s game, they certainly look more at home than a wretched West Ham.

After three successive defeats it was important to stop the rot, and Boro achieved that comfortably enough as they produced a solid away display more in keeping with their performances at Sunderland and West Brom than their capitulation at Everton.

Had it not been for a moment of magic from the mercurial Dimitri Payet, they might well have claimed all three points, and while 16th position is hardly something to shout about too vociferously as the Premier League heads into its second international break, it represents a solid enough start to the campaign.

There is a lingering sense of frustration that West Ham were able to claw their way back into Saturday’s match, and had Boro been more adventurous when they were in the ascendant, perhaps with a change of formation or a shift of attacking emphasis, they might have claimed a second away victory. For now, though, stability is not to be sniffed at.

“There have been ups and downs,” said Stewart Downing, who has been Boro’s most consistent player by a distance in the opening two months of the season. “We’ve had some good performances and good results, but we’ve also had some disappointing days where we could have done better.

“This is the Premier League though, and it’s probably going to be like that for us. We’re a young team and we’re building a new team, with a lot of new players having come in. Overall though, I think the manager will be pleased.

“Yes, one or two results and performances could have been better, but I think you’d have taken this as a start. We’re still in a healthy enough position going into the international break, and we have a home game to look forward to after that. We needed to stop the rot after three defeats, and everyone’s a bit happier now.”

After watching his side be ripped apart in the early stages of their previous game with Tottenham, Aitor Karanka was clearly determined to add some rigidity to his side’s play as they made their first visit to the rebranded London Stadium.

Boro were solid throughout, with Adam Forshaw, who has been the surprise success story of the season so far, dovetailing neatly with Marten de Roon at the heart of midfield, and both Downing and Cristhian Stuani working tirelessly to provide protection in the wide positions.

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West Ham struck the woodwork in the first half as Mark Noble curled a 20-yard strike against the crossbar, but Boro were the more assured side for the majority of the afternoon even if Jordan Rhodes was unable to make much of an impact as he finally made his first Premier League start.

Viktor Fischer, who was preferred to Gaston Ramirez in the ‘number ten’ role, tried to push forward to support the Scotsman, but aside from a first-half header that flashed wide under pressure, Rhodes never really looked like scoring.

It was left to Stuani to make the breakthrough, with the Uruguayan heading home Fischer’s corner at the start of the second half, but Boro’s lead lasted just five minutes before Payet turned past Antonio Barragan and ghosted beyond four more opponents before slotting home.

“It was a great goal,” said Karanka. “He hasn’t just scored goals like that against us, he’s had an amazing Euros and I can understand how he scored because I have played against players like him. Sometimes, you don’t know whether to get close to him or give him one or two metres. He’s a top-class player, we knew that.”

Payet was the best attacking player on the field by a distance, and while Boro do not possess anyone with the same levels of creativity as the Frenchman, Karanka’s challenge over the next few weeks will be to add an increased element of threat and vision to his side’s play.

The Spaniard tends to be a fairly conservative boss, so we will not suddenly see a switch to two centre-forwards or the sacrifice of a holding midfielder. But while Saturday’s focus on solidity was understandable on the back of three successive defeats, Boro cannot afford to let too many winnable games pass them by.

“We are in the position I thought we would be in,” said Karanka. “Fighting hard, knowing that every single point is going to be tough. We have only played seven games in the Premier League, so we have to keep going. The foundations are good, and we need to keep trusting this group of players.”