How did the players fare in Middlesbrough's 1-0 home defeat to Birmingham City?
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-3-3):
6 Bettinelli: Didn’t have a chance with Hogan’s winner and dealt with Birmingham’s balls into the box reasonably effectively
4 Dijksteel: Struggled against the lively Bela and wasn’t able to get up and down the touchline as he would have liked
6 Fry: Dealt with Hogan’s aerial threat for most of the game and limited the effectiveness of Birmingham’s balls into the box
6 McNair: Defended solidly for the vast majority of the afternoon, although the quality of his set-pieces was somewhat mixed
5 Bola: Didn’t give an awful lot away defensively, but wasn’t able to offer much of a threat in the Birmingham half
5 Saville: Found himself dropping deeper and deeper as the game wore on – wasn’t able to threaten the Birmingham goal
6 Morsy: Couldn’t have come much closer with the first-half header that hit the inside of the post, but was taken off at half-time
4 Wing: Struggled to get on the ball and offered very little in the final third – it was no surprise at all to see him taken off at the break
4 Tavernier: Barely touched the ball in the first half, and didn’t really improve after he moved infield in the second period
4 Akpom: Threatened with a header that looped over off Friend at the end of the first half, but didn’t look at his sharpest
4 Johnson: Wasn’t able to make the kind of driving runs that have proved so effective this season – was another Boro player that looked off the pace
Subs:
5 Assombalonga (for Akpom, 46): Got himself into the area in the second half, but wasted a good chance by firing wide of the target
6 Howson (for Morsy, 46): Got on the ball in the second period, and played a couple of decent passes into the final third
5 Spence (for Wing, 46): Tried to add some energy and drive down the right, but the quality of his final ball was mixed
6 Watmore (for Johnson, 64): Tried to get behind the Birmingham defence, but couldn’t beat Etheridge with a decent opportunity
Coulson (for Tavernier, 76)
(not used): Archer (gk), Hackney, Wood, Roberts.
BIRMINGHAM (4-2-3-1):
Etheridge 7; Colin 8, San Jose 7, Dean 7, FRIEND 9; Sunjic 6, Kieftenbeld 7; Sanchez 7, Toral 6 (Roberts 62, 6), Bela 7 (Clayton 90); Hogan 6 (Jutkiewicz 76).
Subs (not used): Prieto (gk), Leko, Dacres-Cogley, Clarke-Salter, Halilovic, Pedersen.
Man Of The Match: GEORGE FRIEND – The former Middlesbrough skipper could not have wished for a better return to the Riverside.
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