Huge job ahead for Rosenior after Boro defeat
Pictures by Hull City
Hull City 1 - 3 Middlesbrough
Sky Bet Championship
Attendance: 16,445
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City correspondent
If reports of a done deal are correct, one could only imagine what City’s new manager-in-waiting, Liam Rosenior, was thinking as he watched his future charges fall deeper towards the relegation mire against fellow strugglers Middlesbrough.
There were quite a few moments of promise tonight, but ultimately, the Tigers were undone by a combination of rotten luck, sloppy defending, questionable officiating and that depressingly familiar lack of killer instinct.
In the first half it was Boro who made the first real move of note, with a fourth-minute free kick that was lofted into the danger area by Ryan Giles – but he couldn’t make a connection with anyone in the box. Hayden Hackney was then booked for a rough challenge on Ozan Tufan, manhandling him to the ground. This was swiftly followed by another yellow card for Boro in the space of just six minutes, this time for Tommy Smith after a rash tackle on Brandon Fleming.
City’s first corner came in the ninth minute, and it was followed by a good attacking spell that saw a searching cross by Jacob Greaves gratefully collected by keeper Zach Steffen.
But the first clear chance of the game fell to Boro, after Isaiah Jones managed to get beyond Fleming down the right and play in ex-Tiger Chuba Akpom, who pulled his shot just wide of the left post from 15 yards. A few minutes later, Jones looked dangerous again, racing down the right, but Greaves got across to intercept him.
As the half wore on, City enjoyed by far the greater share of possession but, as with last Saturday’s reverse against Blackburn, shots on target were few and far between.
A well-timed tackle by Ryan Woods won possession back for the Tigers in the 24th minute, halfway in the Boro half; he played in Christie, who spotted Oscar in a great position, but he was ruled offside. Then, a couple of minutes later, the Colombian shot just over after being played in by Greg Docherty – on his 100th appearance for the Tigers – who had done well to muscle the Boro defenders off the ball about 20 yards out.
On the half-hour mark, though, City yet again found themselves behind at home, against the run of play.
And, to rub salt in the wound, it was Akpom with the goal, heading in at the back post from a good ball in by Tommy Smith. In fairness to him, he did not celebrate in front of the City fans in the South Stand.
With Boro’s sizeable away following now making all the noise, the Tigers were rattled. Giles took a shot at goal, and Akpom, going for the rebound, caught Nathan Baxter in the process, halting proceedings for a couple of minutes.
However, after the benefit of the half-time break, the Tigers at last raised the tempo. In the 48th minute, Christie played in Oscar, whose hooked shot was put over the bar, and a few minutes later another punt into the box by Christie was cleared out to Jean Michael Seri, who hit a long-range effort against the post. Dogukan Sinik and Dimitrios Pelkas then replaced Woods and Slater and their was an air of positivity around the MKM Stadium.
And on the hour mark, City’s endeavours were rewarded with an equaliser that had not a little slice of luck involved. Christie’s ball into the area took a big deflection and flew over Steffen, and the tables were turned as the ex-Boro man scored against his old club.
However, the Tigers’ celebrations were short-lived, as just three minutes later they were behind again, and the league’s worst defensive record took another hit.
Following what many – including interim head coach Andy Dawson – deemed as a harsh decision to award a free kick against Tobias Figueiredo, the Portuguese defender then bundled a header from Darragh Lenihan into his own net.
Moments later, there were ironic cheers from the home fans when the referee finally awarded a free kick in City’s favour, before Lewie Coyle was introduced, replacing Fleming in the 73rd minute. Christie again tried to put the ball into the danger area from the right, but his ball could only clatter off Oscar.
At the other end, from a Giles corner, a header from Riley McGree was comfortably held by Baxter.
With just under 15 minutes to go, Sinik cleverly switched play from left to right, finding Pelkas, and then Christie, who forced a corner.
But any hope that the Tigers may have had of levelling matters was snuffed out in the 80th minute, when Akpom spotted Giles in acres of space on the left, and his low shot was deflected in by the unfortunate Christie.
Boro nearly made it four in the 84th minute when the Tigers lost possession, and Jones latched on to it and raced away down the left. He played in Giles, who, one on one with Baxter, could only fire wide of the left post. It was a poor miss, and it would have been a truly awful goal to concede for City. Not that it really mattered any more, and it didn’t stop the visiting fans gleefully chanting, “You’re getting mauled by the Boro.”
If Rosenior is the man for City, then he has a huge job ahead of him. But you couldn’t blame him for running for the hills after tonight…
Become a Patron of The Hull Story. For just £2.50 a month you can help support this independent journalism project dedicated to Hull. Find out more here