Middlesbrough overcame a very difficult FA Cup third round clash with Bristol City as they came from behind to win 2-1 at Ashton Gate.
Wheater fires winner at Ashton Gate
Middlesbrough overcame a very difficult FA Cup third round clash with Bristol City as they came from behind to win 2-1 at Ashton Gate.
Many people tipped Championship outfit City to dump Boro out and it looked as if the predictions would be right as Liam Fontaine slid them ahead on 18 minutes.
But Boro battled back and Stewart Downing fired home his fifth goal of the season to level as Adriano Basso failed to get down to his low shot.
The winner came 18 minutes from time when David Wheater side-footed home after good work from Luke Young and Lee Cattermole.
With six wins from their last eight games, City's only change was an enforced one with Jamie McCombe missing out but his replacement, Fontaine, soon made his mark by opening the scoring.
Poor defending by Wheater allowed Tamas Vasko a free header from Jamie McAllister's free-kick into the box and the former Fulham man was able to sweep the ball past Mark Schwarzer before any defender could intervene.
Downing set up Ben Hutchinson in the box but saw the rookie screw his shot hopelessly wide.
The England man decided he could do better himself and duly proved it with a 37th-minute equaliser although Basso should not have allowed the shot from the edge of the box to squirm past him.
Labouring
The second half took a while to get going although Lee Johnson saw a free-kick flick up off the wall but Schwarzer was not fooled and was able to save on his line.
The Australian was unable to hold on to an angled drive from Ivan Sproule however and the loose ball fell to Marvin Elliott. The former Millwall man fired in a shot straight away that hit a defender but his appeals for use of an arm were ignored by referee Chris Foy.
Darren Byfield had been labouring on his own up front but was having so much trouble holding up the ball it was no surprise when Johnson made a double change, with David Noble also making way for Lee Trundle and Enoch Showunmi.
Southgate sent on Tuncay in the 66th minute and six minutes later Wheater made it 2-1 to the Premier League side, finishing off a fine passing move involving Young and Cattermole with a cool side-footed finish after ghosting into space in the City box.
City pressed for an equaliser but only occasionally and the final whistle arrived with Boro looking comfortable.
Team Name |
Bristol City |
Middlesbrough |
Possession |
47% |
53% |
Goals |
1 |
2 |
Shots On Target |
2 |
8 |
Shots Off Target |
1 |
9 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
4 |
Corners |
3 |
5 |
Fouls Conceded |
10 |
13 |
Offsides |
1 |
4 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
2 |
Red Cards |
0 |
0 |
|