Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday | Morgan Rogers scores for Boro in narrow victory.
Saturday 23 December 2023 18:23, UK
Middlesbrough moved to within three points of the Championship play-off places with a deserved 1-0 win over West Brom at the Riverside.
Morgan Rogers scored the only goal as Boro followed their midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final success at Port Vale with a third straight win in all competitions.
Albion remain fifth, but Carlos Corberan's side have now won just one of their last five league games and were second best throughout on Teesside, despite the fact Boro's squad have been decimated by injury in recent weeks.
Michael Carrick was forced to name a team without a recognised striker after Emmanuel Latte Lath was forced off at Port Vale and Josh Coburn was only deemed fit enough for the bench, but their forward line still caused the Baggies problems.
Isaiah Jones had a glorious early chance when he was played in by Rogers, only to be denied by the feet of Alex Palmer.
Jones broke in behind again after 15 minutes and was fouled by last man Cedric Kipre, but referee James Linington opted for a yellow card rather than a red, to the fury of the home players and fans.
The Baggies almost took full advantage of that stroke of good fortune.
First Kyle Bartley's header from a corner clipped the outside of a post and, after Albion kept the move alive, fellow defender Darnell Furlong forced a superb point-blank save from back-up Boro goalkeeper Tom Glover, in for the injured Seny Dieng.
Even without a striker Boro looked threatening throughout the opening period and got themselves in front with a really well-worked goal five minutes before half-time.
Midfielder Dan Barlaser picked out Lukas Engel with a defence-splitting pass and the left-back crossed first time for Rogers, who calmly found the bottom corner.
Boro thought they had got off to the perfect start in the second half when Rav van den Berg had the ball in the net, but the defender was offside and the goal ruled out.
Albion saw a lot more of the ball in the early stages of the second period, but their probing failed to result in any clear-cut chances.
It was Boro who still looked the more threatening and Rogers was denied a second goal just after the hour mark when Palmer somehow kept out a close-range effort, tipping the ball on to a post.
Rogers was pulling the strings for Boro.
He teed up Sam Greenwood for what looked like a certain goal, but the Leeds loanee somehow fired over from six yards out.
The 21-year-old then set Jones away down the right, with Palmer again coming to Albion's rescue.
Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick:
"Naturally after Tuesday and the highs and the draw and people talking about Chelsea, I thought our mentality was top quality to reset and start again and put a top performance in.
"There was so much to take from it. It was a proper performance and a proper win.
"It's been an excellent week and for different reasons. The battling performance at Swansea wasn't pretty, but we found a way to win. The boys showed plenty of courage to do that.
"The performance in midweek was totally different. It was a different environment and a very good performance for what we needed on that occasion.
"And then today, I felt we showed a bit of all sorts against a really good team. The boys will take a lot from it, I'm sure."
West Brom's Carlos Corberan:
"I think the result was fair. I saw Middlesbrough in general were better than us. The early stages were balanced and we had a couple of possibilities to score a goal, but they made us defend deeper and found a way to attack us.
"When we did break their press we couldn't create something. In the second half we needed to be more aggressive but couldn't find the energy.
"Little by little Middlesbrough found a way to move us deeper. In the second half it was clear we needed to react and be more aggressive, but we lost the ball too often and they were comfortable defending against us.
"I like how Middlesbrough attack and defend. They will be fighting for the play-off positions because they have a very good squad with a very good coach."
