The visitors started well and put the high flying Boro' under early pressure. An early break down the right and cross by Lewis Buxton dealt with by Jonathan Woodgate, captain of the home side. A quick counter forces a corner that is swung in by Grant Leadbitter, Chris Kirkland tipping it over the crossbar for a second corner - which again is dealt with by the Owls stopper. When Andre Bikey fouls Gary Madine, Wednesday work a free-kick seeing Miguel Llera fire at goal - easily saved by England U21 keeper Jason Steele. The 10th minute sees SWFC earn a corner which Jay Bothroyd loops in, avoiding everyone. The hitman then creates his own chance which sees his snapshot fly harmlessly wide. When Emmanuel Ledesma plays a beautifully weighted through ball for the advancing Justin Hoyte, Daniel Jones gets caught out and the Boro' defender hits with his outside right and the ball flies past Kirkland for the games first goal. A fantastic finish for Hoyte who celebrates his 2nd goal in 139 appearances. The influential Ledesma then creates his own shooting opportunity after a Boro' keep ball exercise but drags his effort wide. With 15mins in Anthony Gardner brings down Ismael Miller in a dangerous position and the rasping effort by Leadbitter is punched away by Kirkland. The home team passing is brilliant as Wednesday don't come close and the possession is being monopolised by Middlesborough. When Jones is again caught out high up field, Boro' break with Miller, only the covering Llera prevents him from being one-on-one with Kirkland. On the 24th minute Buxton feeds Antonio who jinks past 2 defenders well and fires his cross in, Bothroyd meets the ball and fires a right footed strike straight at the keeper. After a cutting attack by Boro' is wasted, Kirkland hits the goal kick upfield and the flick-on by Bothroys is half volleyed towards goal by Ross Barkley but is too far out to cause any real concern with his shot. A neat passage of play by the Owls ends with Barkley hitting a great pass upfield to Antonio who drops behind the defender, brings it down and fires a shot at the home keeper. Moments later and Josh McEachran embarks on a terrific run, beating 4 defenders but seeing his shot saved by Kirkland. Sensing the away momentum growing, Boro' do well to slow the pace and keep the ball again, having the yellow-clad Owls chasing the ball. They get gift wrapped a chance to double their lead by Jones who's poor clearance only finds Leadbitter, not afraid of a long-range shot he fires one towards goal, but a deflection takes the sting and pace out resulting in an easy claim for the Owls keeper. A neat exchange between Bothroyd and Jones sees the ball passed to Antonio, he drops a shoulder to get passed one defender and wraps his foot around the ball looking for the too corner, saved! The corner in has Madine flick to the back post and Llera slides in to side foot inches wide.
HT. So far an easy evening for Middlesborough, passing and attacking very well. Owls need to up tempo and get further upfield. This 4-5-1 formation doesn't seem to be working for Wednesday. No half time snack as I've only just finished a curry with all the trimmings!
The second half is underway and 3mins in and Wednesday are level. A Bothroyd centre is chested down by Antonio and a clearly offside Madine hits the ball first, lifting it over the advancing Steele. His first goal in 11 games that maybe makes Dave Jones think twice about the impending loan deal to Swindon Town. Daniel Jones does well halting a quick attack but concedes a corner, resulting with half time sub Seb Hines head harmlessly over the bar. In the 53rd minute Leadbitter again tests Kirkland from range but the keeper holds on for a comfortable save. After Bothroyd wastes a good chance for Wednesday, Boro' up the tempo with good attacking play. In the 59th minute they are rewarded when scrappy midfield play by Wednesday releases Ledesma after a brilliant turn, he feeds the weighted pass to Scott McDonald who knocks past Kirkland and the onrushing Miller scores his 2nd goal in 23 games, 2-1 to the Boro! Only a deflection knocking the ball wide prevents a third goal but Gardner blocks Ledesmas rasping drive and Wednesday can breath again. The 72nd minute sees Bothroyd leave the game to be replaced by Jermaine Johnson. A 75th minute corner by Leadbitter is perfect and is met by Lukas Jutkiewicz and his free header hits the back of the net for a deserved 3-1 lead, 5 goals in 7 appearances for him. A sloppy defended corner is punished and always will be at this level. "We are top of the league" rings around the stadium for the umpteenth time as the massive crowd are in party mood. 81 minutes sees Chris O'Grady enter the fray replacing Paul Corry an Rhys McCabe replace Ross Barkley. 5mins later and Wednesday have a great opportunity to narrow the deficit when Madine is found in space. Expecting an offside flag, the Boro' defenders are slow to react but their keeper isn't - rushing out and blocking the 6yard out effort brilliantly. The closing stages pass quietly on the field with no chances for either team but the noise is coming from the stands as Middlesborough top the nPower Championship.
FT. Another poor result but not the worst performance, the players are running their socks off but getting no rewards. The formation needs balancing up to 4-4-2 in my opinion, one man up top is not beneficial when the back 10 players concede possession & goals. A deserved score line for Boro'
Attendance: 28,229
Owls Man of Match: Antonio (again! Seems to be our only outlet)
No comments:
Post a Comment