Match Report: Middlesbrough 2 Nottingham Forest 1 (From The Northern Echo)

Jutkiewicz and Emnes goals give Boro first league win of 2012

10:03pm Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Middlesbrough FC Match Reports By Scott Wilson

IT wasn't quite a Saint Valentine's Day massacre, but you won't find anybody at Middlesbrough complaining.

Two goals in two minutes either side of the half-time interval from Marvin Emnes and Lukas Jutkiewicz helped the Teessiders secure a first Championship victory since Boxing Day and a first home success over Nottingham Forest since 1973. Perhaps more significantly, they also helped lift Tony Mowbray's side back up a position to eighth in the table.

Joel Lynch's 66th-minute header made for a nervy finale, with the dismissal of Kevin Thomson for two fouls in quick succession forcing Boro to play the final quarter-of-an-hour with just ten men.

They held on though, largely thanks to the defensive solidity of Matthew Bates and Rhys Williams and a fine late save from Jason Steele, and halted a six-game winless run that was threatening to undo much of their good work from the first half of the season.

The performance was far from perfect, and for large periods Nottingham Forest were as poor as their league position of 23rd suggests, but this was nevertheless a welcome return to winning ways ahead of a crucial spell of the campaign.

Boro will hope to build some momentum off the back of their 13th win of the season, a success that showcased their resolve as much as their talent.

Significantly, both of their strikers scored, something that has not happened for quite a while now. Just as importantly, in terms of the matches that lie ahead, their injury problems are also beginning to clear.

Bates and Faris Haroun returned to the side, while Nicky Bailey and Barry Robson should be available for next Tuesday's trip to Millwall. Their presence in the run in is likely to be crucial.

Bates' return from illness enabled Mowbray to revert to a three-man central defence with Justin Hoyte and Joe Bennett pushed on as attacking wing-backs.

The tactic was designed to provide some pace and energy on the flanks, something that has not always been evident in Boro's play this season, but it was only partially successful.

Both Hoyte and Bennett attempted to make ground in the wide areas, but they did not really see enough of the ball to provide regular service to Jutkiewicz and Emnes.

As a result, Boro struggled to break down a surprisingly durable Forest side who have shown few signs of improvement since Steve Cotterill replaced Steve McClaren in October.

This game was supposed to feature McClaren's first return to the Riverside, but instead it was former Sunderland assistant Cotterill who was watching on as his side successfully neutered their opponents' early attacking threat.

Emnes flashed a 14th-minute shot narrowly wide after a crisp one-two with Julio Arca, but that was a rare moment of fluency amid the first-half stalemate.

It was another 20 minutes before Boro created anything - Scott Wootton blocking Arca's goalbound shot in the area - and while Emnes drilled a long-range shot over the crossbar before the interval, a breakthrough never really looked likely.

Forest were no more cohesive, although Gareth McCleary should have found the target after a passing move with Marlon Harewood briefly unlocked the Boro defence. Instead, the midfielder blazed miles over the target.

Harewood, who contributed to Newcastle's Championship-winning campaign two seasons ago, is hardly known for his deft touches, yet his 30th-minute back-heel threatened to present Ishmael Miller with a clear run on goal before an alert Steele raced from his line to smother the danger. Steele was called into action again shortly after to save a more stereotypical Harewood header.

The game still appeared to be drifting towards the interval though, only for it to unexpectedly burst into life in stoppage time. Thomson floated a long ball towards the left touchline, and Forest full-back Wootton made an almighty mess of clearing the danger.

Emnes seized possession and, after cutting in from the flank, the striker drilled in a low strike that deflected through the legs of goalkeeper Lee Camp off Guy Moussi.

A goal up on the cusp of half-time, Boro claimed a two-goal advantage less than two minutes after the interval.

The previously innocuous Haroun supplied Jutkiewicz close to the edge of the penalty area, and after turning inside his marker, the striker curled a precise finish into the left-hand corner of the net.

It was Jutkiewicz's second goal in five starts since making a £1.5m move from Coventry, a rate of return that could make a major difference to Boro's promotion push if it is maintained between now and the end of the season.

Within the space of two attacks, the hosts suddenly looked secure, and their evening would surely have been trouble-free had Williams directed a free header on target in the 51st minute instead of nodding over the crossbar.

The miss did not appear costly at the time, but the complexion of the game changed when Forest claimed a goal from nothing in the 66th minute.

Former Sunderland midfielder Andy Reid delivered a whipped free-kick from the right, and fellow substitute Lynch stole ahead of his marker to head home at the front post.

That alone might not have stretched Middlesbrough unduly, but the hosts' night became all the more difficult when they were reduced to ten men with 15 minutes left.

Thomson had already been a booked for a foul midway through the second half, and referee Paul Tierney issued him with a second yellow card when he tangled with Adlene Guedioura close to the touchline.

The dismissal made for a fraught finale, and Boro were indebted to Steele when he made a fine save to keep out Moussi's late long-range strike.