"WE must make sure we build on this now" .... "We have done well on our travels, now we must do it at home" .... "If we want to push on and challenge for the top eight these are the games we need to win".... "There are some very winnable games coming up"....
It was scripted really wasn't it?
I know it was as cold as a polar bear's bum but there was no need for Boro to freeze like that. A sloppily and cheaply conceded free-kick (from our possession on the edge of the Bolton box) that was poorly defended was a bullet hole straight through our own size nines then we promptly took aim at the other foot.
Boro have struggled for years to break down teams that come to sit back and defend in numbers. Giving one of them a two goal lead and then trying to do it was a non-starter. There was plenty of possession and crisp passing in the middle third but rarely any cutting edge carving into the box, or getting behind the defence. A string of long shots charged down in the crowded box never had them worried.
Getting a goal back and then gifting them one in return almost immediatesly (and again, from Boro possession at a corner) was a real kick in the teeth but it was no more than we deserved for a wooden, lack-lustre display.
More later, when I've defrosted....
Yes, they played a spoiling game but there is no point booing the ref. We knew what they would do if they got ahead (and even if it had stayed 0-0). It is down to Boro to find a plan B. It is not as if we are never going to need it.
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