Tom Glover’s howler rescues a derby point for Sunderland at Middlesbrough
Burstow #Burstow
Two rivers and 30 miles separate Middlesbrough and Sunderland but there is some debate as to whether the Tees-Wear clash counts as a “real” derby. Judging by the dismissive attitude of the visiting fans as they alternated choruses of “we hate Newcastle” with “you’re just a small town in Yorkshire” it is not a top-rank rivalry.
The good news was that no one had seemed to have told the players. If regional bragging rights are not quite the be all and end all, the race for the playoffs most definitely is. The action was nothing if not intense.
Not that the resultant draw exactly thrilled either side amid one of the tightest Championship promotion races in years. A point apiece leaves Sunderland slightly better off, occupying eighth position, just one point behind sixth-placed Hull. Boro are meanwhile 12th yet still only four points adrift of a playoff place.
An often desperately untidy first half might have ended with Sunderland ahead but, after being adroitly cued up by some stellar wing play on Jack Clarke’s part, Abdoullah Ba’s shot was cleared off the line by Rav van den Berg.
Although Boro’s Finn Azaz had earlier missed a decent chance, a litany of slapdash final passes allied to a mutual lack of a proven central striker left both the two managerial Michaels, Boro’s Carrick and Sunderland’s Beale, frustrated.
Middlesbrough keeper Tom Glover fails to keep out Nazariy Rusyn’s speculative shot. Photograph: Phil Duncan/Every Second Media/REX/Shutterstock
Carrick’s team were evidently missing their injured centre-forward Emmanuel Latte Lath and inspirational right winger Isaiah Jones. They finally compensated for those absences when Marcus Forss took control of the fallout from Sam Greenwood’s deflected shot following a short free-kick routine, took a high-calibre steadying touch, swivelled sharply and volleyed them into a 61st minute lead.
It was a fine finish and just reward for a greater degree of second-half control on Boro’s part but such authority remained fragile . It evaporated in the 82nd minute.
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Shortly after replacing Sunderland’s struggling central striker, the Chelsea loanee, Mason Burstow, the Ukrainian forward Nazariy Rusyn unleashed an optimistic half-volley and watched in delight as the subsequently mortified home goalkeeper Tom Glover got a touch but could not keep the ball out.
Glover’s moment of misery prefaced an exodus of Boro fans. Those remaining in the ground subjected Carrick’s team to some gentle booing at the final whistle.