How did the Boro players fare in their 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest?
NOTTM FOREST (4-4-2):
Horvath 3; Mbe Soh 4 (Richardson 74), Worrall 4, McKenna 5, Lowe 4; Zinckernagel 5, Yates 4, Garner 4 (Lolley 66, 4), JOHNSON 5; Grabban, Taylor 3 (Silva 66, 4).
Subs (not used): Samba (gk), Figueiredo, Carvalho, Cafu.
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-2-3-1):
7 Lumley: Wasn’t seriously tested all evening, but controlled his area effectively and distributed the ball well
7 Dijksteel: Shored up the right of Boro’s back four and ensured Forest were unable to get any joy down their left-hand side
8 Hall: Dominated both Grabban and Taylor in the air and was always in the right place to cut out any danger in the 18-yard box
8 Fry: Produced his best display of the season so far and ensured the switch back to a back four worked out well
8 Peltier: Doesn’t look out of position at all playing at left-back, and is probably more defensively secure than the other options in the role
7 Howson: Was a key factor in ensuring Forest did not really offer an attacking threat – won plenty of tackles and covered lots of ground
7 Lea-Siliki: Enjoyed himself on his first Boro start, shutting down the opposition and throwing himself into challenges
7 Tavernier: Started down the right-hand side and produced a superb threaded through ball to enable Sporar to open the scoring
8 CROOKS: Played a hugely-influential role in the ‘number ten’ position, creating space for Sporar and pulling defenders around
7 Hernandez: His willingness to take a gamble paid off as he dispossessed the Forest keeper to claim his first Boro goal
7 Sporar: Cannot have hit many better strikes in his life – broke his Boro duck and just about burst the net into the bargain
Subs:
Jones (for Lea-Siliki, 71)
Ikpeazu (for Sporar, 80)
Watmore (for Hernandez, 87)
(not used): Daniels (gk), Bamba, Malley, Olusanya.
Man Of The Match: MATT CROOKS – The summer signing from Rotherham has been Boro’s most consistent and impressive performer of the season so far.
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