Middlesbrough 2-2 Nottingham Forest (EFL Championship) 02.03.20
Nottingham Forest had to settle for a hard earned point at relegation threatened Middlesbrough last night after Lewis Grabban’s late strike gave Forest a share of the spoils at the Riverside.
Ryan Yates had earlier given Forest the lead in a first half where they might have considered themselves lucky to be winning. With not much quality on show from either side during the opening half an hour it was the home team who threatened more with half chances until Yates turned on the edge of the area and unleashed a hard low shot into the goalkeepers right hand corner to give the Reds a 1-0 advantage.
The lead was immediately put under threat when Samba saved from Coulson before the Frenchman dropped a cross at the feet of Lewis Wing before doing well to recover diving desperately to save the Boro playmakers effort over the bar.
On 40 minutes though the home side did get their breakthrough. A deep free kick was headed back across goal and Gestede who was a handful in the air all night nodded down into an empty net to level.
Things got even better for Boro on the stroke of half time when a move started with the goalkeeper and ended with Lewis Wing put through, he shot at Samba who could only deflect the effort tamely across the goalline for a deserved lead for Jonathan Woodgate’s men.
In the second half things looked much the same but an early double substitution saw first Diakhaby, then Carvalho introduced with the latter beginning to dictate play and orchestrate things in a positive manor for the away side.
It was the Portuguese playmakers corner that found Figueiredo’s header deflected over when it looked destined to be creeping in. The resulting corner again found Figueiredo who headed over when he should have done better.
As Forest pressed with further chances for Grabban and Diakhaby the Reds dominated the second period territorially and with possession with Middlesbrough desperately trying to defend their lead and as time looked to be ticking away another corner by Carvalho this time found Lolley on the edge of the area, his stretched volley scuffed into the ground kicked up and as Grabban back to goal challenged the keeper Pears he deftly flicked a spinning ball towards the net with the ball creeping over the line for a leveller which the home team argued was instead a foul not given by the Referee or Linesman who made the right choice.
Grabban clever in his play standing his ground and finishing as only a top poaching proven goalscorer like him can do.
That goal gave Forest impetuous to win the game with Diakhaby shooting firmly only for it to be deflected away before a scuffed effort by Huddersfield loanee in the closing seconds perhaps summing his night up.
Not a great first half performance but much better in the second, the Reds fought hard to take a share of the spoils against a side that hasn’t won all year, but on previous nights like this that would have perhaps called for Forest to be that scalp.
After the match defender Joe Worrall said “we were pants” but furthered “We started the game with a point and the Manager said at the minimum we want to come away from the game with what we started it with”.
Sabri Lamouchi suggesting the same thing “I think we are happy with this point but just the point, because the way we played, the organisation, the mistakes, simple things, I am not totally satisfied.”
“We never controlled the game, we started better than them but we never made the difference with our quality. Tonight, we made a lot of mistakes, simple things; position, technically, I don’t know what was wrong.”
“If the fans are happy with a point, I am happy with a point but I am not happy with the way we played. We need more character, more personality.”
Next up for Forest is Millwall under the lights at the City Ground on Friday night in a game that is also live on Sky.
Middlesbrough: Pears, Howson, Shotton, Moukoudi, Johnson, Clayton, McNair, Tavernier (Spence 87), Wing (Saville 81), Coulson, Gestede.
Forest: Samba, Cash, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribeiro, Yates (Bostock 78), Watson, Semedo (Diakhaby 56), Lolley, Ameobi (Carvalho 69), Grabban.
Venue: Riverside Stadium (18,884)
*Main image @NFFC Lewis Grabban netting his 17th league goal of the campaign.
