Middlesbrough 0 - 1 WatfordJosé Holebas’ stunning strike lands spoils for Watford at Middlesbrough
Away team scorersJose Holebas 54
By the time the final whistle blew the morning’s clouds and rain had cleared to leave the splendour of the Cleveland Hills clearly visible from the main stand. The only problem for Aitor Karanka was that the sun had elected to shine on Watford rather than his suddenly struggling side on an afternoon when José Holebas’s glorious winning goal highlighting Middlesbrough’s problems.
With Álvaro Negredo and Gastón Ramírez once again letting themselves down, Boro rarely looked like ending a plummet down the table which has seen them collect only two points from the last six games. Alarmingly, their sole win came at Sunderland’s expense.
Without a ball being kicked the team-sheets created a measure of controversy. While Walter Mazzarri made a big decision in preferring Isaac Success’s attacking potential to that of Odion Ighalo, Karanka recalled the latterly disappointing Negredo and Ramírez, leaving Jordan Rhodes and Viktor Fischer kicking their heels on the bench.
When Younès Kaboul – operating on the right of Watford’s back three – momentarily turned slapdash and conceded possession the former pair had a chance to remind Boro fans what they were really capable of but, after exchanging passes with Negredo, Ramírez dragged an inviting, but ultimately scuffed, shot wide.
Seeking their first home win since April, Karanka’s sometimes overly cautious team had at least begun on the front foot and Kaboul and company looked suitably relieved when Stewart Downing shot over from around 15 yards after meeting George Friend’s early, whipped in, cross.
Watford initially looked vulnerable but Boro’s problem was that Ramírez – deployed in the No10 position behind Negredo that is so key to Karanka’s 4-2-3-1 formation – seemed to have developed an unfortunate penchant for persistently picking the wrong pass. Even when he took a corner, the Uruguayan international contrived to overhit it, leaving the ball to sail out of play. Not to be outdone, Negredo proceeded to get a straightforward headed chance all wrong.
Undeterred, Boro appealed for a handball penalty against Nordin Amrabat but, quite rightly, Roger East, the referee, refused to buy it and boos rang around a stadium studded with a perhaps surprisingly high number of empty red seats.
The stay-aways quite possibly called it right. Although Watford improved slightly as their formation gradually morphed from 3-4-3 to a defensive 5-4-1 the general standard was poor with passes being miscued all over the place and first touches continually suspect.
If Karanka had reason to be content with the manner in which Calum Chambers and Ben Gibson, his centre halves, were containing Troy Deeney, Boro’s manager must have been relieved that Antonio Barragán was not sent off after committing what appeared a clearcut second bookable offence.
Already yellow carded for hauling Success down, the right back, Barragán was extremely fortunate to escape a second for blatantly pulling the same player back 10 minutes later. That moment of contentious refereeing was followed by another early in the second half when Ramírez, already booked, caught Success in the midriff with a stray boot. It looked a painful connection but was probably accidental, leaving East to offer the Uruguayan the benefit of the doubt.
Shortly afterwards came the afternoon’s second shot on target – a tame strike from Adam Forshaw proving little better than Negredo’s similarly anonymous previous, blocked, effort. The Spanish striker reportedly earns more than £100,000 a week but it had turned into one of those days when he could barely complete the simplest short pass.
Shooting wise, it proved a case of third time lucky as Watford’s first shot on target left them celebrating a goal thoroughly out of keeping with the rest of the afternoon. Pouncing on a Boro clearance, Holebas took a steadying touch, before unleashing an exquisitely elegant yet utterly vicious left foot shot which defied the stretching Víctor Valdés en route to the top corner.
Perhaps fortunately for Karanka much of the crowds’ mounting anger was directed towards East. “We’ve had some shit refs but you are the worst,” they chorused after Holebas appeared to trip Chambers inside the area but, to amazement, Boro were not awarded a penalty. It seemed a clear foul – although East evidently thought otherwise – but, crucially, replays suggested the contact actually took place fractionally outside the box.
Indeed the referee was surely the wrong target – arguably East’s only key mistake was not dismissing Barragán for that second bookable offence.
Guardian
