WHEN Middlesbrough looked into the possibility of signing Famara Diedhiou last month, it was suggested the Bristol City striker could play a pivotal role in determining the fate of the Teessiders’ promotion push. In the end, Diedhiou remained at Ashton Gate rather than moving to the Riverside. Last night, however, he still produced a performance that could play a key role in determining where Boro finish this season.

Diedhiou scored two goals and set up another as Bristol City ended a seven-match losing run by ripping a misfiring Middlesbrough apart. All three goals came before the interval as Boro collapsed in a remarkable 16-minute spell before the break, with their defenders unable to cope with Diedhiou’s muscular approach.

Neil Warnock looked into the possibility of signing the 28-year-old as part of a swap deal involving Britt Assombalonga in the closing stages of last month’s transfer window, and on last night’s evidence, the Senegalese striker would have been a potentially transformative acquisition.

Instead, with Ashley Fletcher having picked up another injury in the first half of last night’s defeat, Warnock will have to soldier on with an out-of-sorts Assombalonga and a seemingly out-of-his depth Chuba Akpom. It is unlikely to be a scenario that results in promotion.

Boro will certainly have to defend better than they did last night if they are to reignite a push for the play-offs in the next few weeks, with Diedhiou and Nakhi Wells having punched a series of alarming holes in the Teessiders’ backline.

Diedhiou headed home Adam Nagy’s cross before firing home after he was teed up by Wells, then repaid the favour by setting up his strike partner with a flick-on that sent Wells racing clear from close to the halfway line.

Dael Fry pulled a goal back with a close-range finish with ten minutes left, but it was too little, too late from a Boro perspective.

Nigel Pearson, watching on from the stands, was appointed as Bristol City’s new manager earlier this week and will have been hugely encouraged by his new side’s performance. Warnock, standing with his hands in his pockets in the technical area, will have been significantly less satisfied. If Saturday’s win at Reading showcased many of Boro’s strengths, this was a night that highlighted their frailities at both ends of the field.

The quality of Boro’s defending has been their biggest strength this season, so it was remarkable to see them ripped apart repeatedly before the break.

Boro’s centre-halves simply could not cope with Diedhiou’s muscularity, a failing that was also apparent when they were pulled apart by Colin Kazim-Richards at Derby earlier this month. Anfernee Dijksteel and Paddy McNair have performed creditably as part of a back three on a number of occasions this season, but they are not natural central defenders, and their limitations tend to be exposed by physical centre-forwards. That was certainly the case last night.

With Diedhiou dominating aerially, the lively Wells was able to feed off his strike partner in the 18-yard box and a shell-shocked Boro found themselves three goals down and effectively beaten at the interval.

It could, and perhaps should, have been even worse, with Bristol City spurning a couple of decent opportunities before they eventually broke the deadlock in the 21st minute.

Wells came within inches of scoring just ten minutes in, but while his low shot beat Marcus Bettinelli after Diedhiou played him into the right of the area, a back-tracking McNair was able to hack clear from just in front of the goalline.

Bettinelli saved from Diedhiou moments later, tipping the striker’s low shot around the right-hand post, but he was powerless to prevent the same player breaking the deadlock when the Robins attacked purposefully again moments later.

Nagy stood up a cross from the right-hand side of the area, and after easing between Dijksteel and Fry, Diedhiuou was able to head home from the edge of the six-yard box.

That was Bristol City’s first goal in seven hours and 51 minutes of football, but it was followed by another just 12 minutes later.

Jonny Howson was uncharacteristically sloppy as he conceded possession to Tyreeq Bakinson close to the halfway line, and the Robins midfielder fed Wells on the right of the box. He squared to Diedhiou, who calmly swept home his second goal of the evening with a simple first-time finish.

That was bad enough, but worse was to follow as the visitors claimed a third goal eight minutes before the break.

Again, the Middlesbrough defence was all over the place as Bristol City counter-attacked, with Diedhiou flicking on a long ball on the halfway line to send Wells clear. The Bermudan outpaced Howson as he advanced into the area, and with Bettinelli unsure of whether to come or stay on his line, he was able to slot a low finish past the goalkeeper’s right hand.

Unsurprisingly, Warnock appeared shell-shocked on the sidelines, and his mood would not have been lifted by the sight of Fletcher limping off shortly after Boro conceded the first of Bristol City’s three first-half goals.

Starting with Fletcher for the third time in a week was always going to be a calculated risk given that the striker had missed more than three months with a serious hamstring injury before his phased return to first-team action, and the gamble backfired as the 25-year-old found himself hobbling disconsolately down the tunnel. Given Akpom and Assombalonga’s struggles this season, another long-term absence for Fletcher could signal the end of Boro’s promotion hopes.

Akpom replaced Fletcher last night, but as has been the case with the majority of his performances this term, the summer signing from Greece was not exactly lightning. That he was still preferred to Assombalonga says everything about the Boro captain’s standing as his time on Teesside draws to an end, although Assombalonga hardly furthered his own cause after he eventually came on with 23 minutes left. No wonder Warnock was so keen to sign another centre-forward last month.

Boro dominated possession as they tried to get back into things in the second half last night, but with Bristol City’s players understandably content to defend their advantage, a successful salvage operation never looked on the cards.

Duncan Watmore curled wide from a promising position at the start of the second period, opening up his body after Marc Bola rolled the ball into his path, while Akpom stabbed a poor shot over the crossbar midway through the half after fellow substitute George Saville stabbed the ball into his path.

Boro scored with ten minutes left, but while Fry has had to wait 133 games for his first goal for his hometown club, it could hardly have come in less auspicious circumstances.

Marvin Johnson’s right-wing cross squeezed past two Bristol City defenders before reaching Fry, but while the centre-half stabbed home from a couple of yards out, he was hardly in the mood to celebrate his maiden Middlesbrough goal.