Middlesbrough's chances of Premier League survival took a huge hit as Aston Villa held them to a 1-1 draw at the Riverside. More
90'+3 Cormer for Villa... and the ball ends up running straight across the Boro goal line!!! That would have been the curtain for certain - and the whistle goes to keep them alive... just!
85' Milner puts a ball in - AND GREAT HEADER BY HESKEY, BUT JUST OVER THE BAR!!!! That would have been the end for Boro... but they're all but relegated now in any case unless they can grab that winner.
81' A great spell of pressire from Boro leads to a chance for Tuncay - and he lobs it well over Friedel but just over the bar and on to the roof of the net!
73' Great chance for Villa after a corner leads to a goalmouth scramble, but Wheater is there to clear off the line frmo Agbonlahor's header!!!
71' It's Gary O'Neil coming off for Walker.
69' Reo-Coker is on for Young, and now Boro will shortly make a change too.
62' Great chance for Ashley Young as he's clean through with the keeper to beat - but he tries to dribble it round the keeper and gets caught out! That should have been 2-1!
58' Villa come again from the re-start - and it's a great chance for Petrov to add another, but he can't quite get connect with it and drags it across goal!
56' GOAL FOR VILLA!!!! It's Carew, who dances through the box with defenders reluctant to tackle for fear of conceding a penalty - but he finds space to toe-poke a shot through the throng and it's in the back of the net!!! No chance at all for the keeper, and that's a massive blow for Southgate's boys.
52' Two yellow cards in a matter of seconds for the visitors, first Barry penalised for a flying elbow and then Milner is booked for charging in on O'Neill as if he's playing British Bulldogs rather than football.
51' Oooohhh... half-chance for Boro as King tussles with Cuellar - the free kick goes Villa's way, but Emnes would have been clean through if King had kept himself to himself!
46' We're back under way at the Riverside, and it's Villa who make the better start as they look to sort out their loose and ineffective football from the first half.
45'+5 The whistle goes, and the spectators who have turned up this afternoon - for the ground is far from full - are loving every minute of this at the moment. They give their boys a standing ovation! And is there a steely glint in Gareth Southgate's eye there?
39' Emnes picks himself up from the penalty disappointment and splits the defence open, dragging the ball back for
Hoyte to unleash a lovely shot that requires Friedel's best full-length dive to direct it around the post.
37' Big penalty shout at the corner as Carew brings down Emnes very clumsily right in the box - but amazingly it's not given!
37' Boro push back upfield, and they're queueing up to have a go - Hoyte wins a corner as his free kick is deflected over.
34' Great spell for Villa as Young puts a very dangerous ball across the box - it's headed clear by Huth, but falls to Heskey who forces a corner.
25' The stretcher removes Downing - is that the end of his Boro career, you have to ask? - and Marlon King comes on in his place.
23' Terrible news for Boro: Downing is going to come off. He gave it a go but is back on the floor again now and looks like he's waiting for the stretcher. That could be the end of his season - Petrov just trod on his twisted foot in that earlier challenge, accidental rather than malicious though.
13' WHAT A GOAL FROM TUNCAY!!!!!!!! INCREDIBLE OVERHEAD KICK AND BORO ARE IN THE LEAD!!!!! Downing found space to shoot, and when the ball ricocheted into the air inside the box it veered towards the Boro man, whose overhead finish was perfectly directed into the far corner of the net - no chance at all for Friedel.
10' Agbonlahor is played through on Jones by Shorey, and has a free attempt from the left corner of the six-yard box - but sidefoots straight at the keeper while attempting the nutmeg.
7' Boro come up well, with Downing finding space to release O'Neill, who fires it in - and Tuncay gets a powerful header away! It's saved by Friedel, but the flag was up anyway - still a very good start for the men in red.| Middlesbrough | Stats | Aston Villa |
|---|---|---|
| 51% | Possession | 48% |
| 14 | Shots | 10 |
| 3 | Shots on target | 5 |
| 4 | Saves | 1 |
| 6 | Corners | 9 |
| 16 | Fouls | 14 |
| 3 | Offsides | 3 |
| 0 | Yellow cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red cards | 0 |
| 21 | Tackles | 26 |
| 244 | Accurate passes | 238 |
| 86 | Bad passes | 59 |
| G | S | SoT | F | FW | O | A | AP | BP | T | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Bradley Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| 2 | Justin Hoyte | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11 | 0 |
| 14 | Robert Huth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| 31 | David Wheater | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 4 |
| 26 | Matthew Bates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 3 |
| 20 | Julio Arca | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 14 | 5 |
| 28 | Adam Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 10 | 2 |
| 19 | Stewart Downing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Gary O'Neil | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 3 |
| 17 | Tuncay Sanli | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 11 | 1 |
| 11 | Marvin Emnes | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 11 | 1 |
| 3 | Andrew Taylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Anthony McMahon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Ross Turnbull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Marlon King | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 2 |
| 41 | Josh Walker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 0 |
| 15 | Mohamed Shawky | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Jonathon Grounds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G | S | SoT | F | FW | O | A | AP | BP | T | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad Friedel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Nicky Shorey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 1 |
| 24 | Carlos Cuéllar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 5 |
| 15 | Curtis Davies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | Ashley Young | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 3 |
| 8 | James Milner | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 3 |
| 19 | Stilian Petrov | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | Gareth Barry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 12 | 2 |
| 11 | Gabriel Agbonlahor | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | John Carew | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 10 | 0 |
| 18 | Emile Heskey | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Steve Sidwell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Brad Guzan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Nigel Reo-Coker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | Zatyiah Knight | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Ciaran Clark | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Nathan Delfouneso | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Craig Gardner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
85' Milner puts a ball in - AND GREAT HEADER BY HESKEY, BUT JUST OVER THE BAR!!!! That would have been the end for Boro... but they're all but relegated now in any case unless they can grab that winner.
81' A great spell of pressire from Boro leads to a chance for Tuncay - and he lobs it well over Friedel but just over the bar and on to the roof of the net!
73' Great chance for Villa after a corner leads to a goalmouth scramble, but Wheater is there to clear off the line frmo Agbonlahor's header!!!
62' Great chance for Ashley Young as he's clean through with the keeper to beat - but he tries to dribble it round the keeper and gets caught out! That should have been 2-1!
58' Villa come again from the re-start - and it's a great chance for Petrov to add another, but he can't quite get connect with it and drags it across goal!
56' GOAL FOR VILLA!!!! It's Carew, who dances through the box with defenders reluctant to tackle for fear of conceding a penalty - but he finds space to toe-poke a shot through the throng and it's in the back of the net!!! No chance at all for the keeper, and that's a massive blow for Southgate's boys.
51' Oooohhh... half-chance for Boro as King tussles with Cuellar - the free kick goes Villa's way, but Emnes would have been clean through if King had kept himself to himself!
39' Emnes picks himself up from the penalty disappointment and splits the defence open, dragging the ball back for
Hoyte to unleash a lovely shot that requires Friedel's best full-length dive to direct it around the post.
37' Big penalty shout at the corner as Carew brings down Emnes very clumsily right in the box - but amazingly it's not given!
37' Boro push back upfield, and they're queueing up to have a go - Hoyte wins a corner as his free kick is deflected over.
34' Great spell for Villa as Young puts a very dangerous ball across the box - it's headed clear by Huth, but falls to Heskey who forces a corner.
13' WHAT A GOAL FROM TUNCAY!!!!!!!! INCREDIBLE OVERHEAD KICK AND BORO ARE IN THE LEAD!!!!! Downing found space to shoot, and when the ball ricocheted into the air inside the box it veered towards the Boro man, whose overhead finish was perfectly directed into the far corner of the net - no chance at all for Friedel.
10' Agbonlahor is played through on Jones by Shorey, and has a free attempt from the left corner of the six-yard box - but sidefoots straight at the keeper while attempting the nutmeg.
7' Boro come up well, with Downing finding space to release O'Neill, who fires it in - and Tuncay gets a powerful header away! It's saved by Friedel, but the flag was up anyway - still a very good start for the men in red.
MiddlesbroughManager: Gareth Southgate
Captain: Stewart Downing
25′
72′ None
Aston VillaManager: Martin O'Neill
Captain: Gareth Barry
68′ None
Bye bye boro. Hope you had a good time in the premier league. Hope to see you soon :)

sorry boro but i think we will send you down tomorrow, i like southgate but he should have gone 5 months ago to give you a chance. hopefully you will come strait back up by keeping hold of your players not selling without replacing like usual. one thing that should cheer you up is that were going to be sending newcastle down with you next week.

Middlesbrough 0:2 Aston Villa gols Young(39) and Petrov (62)

the last thing i need is villa being overtaken by everton again...
i dun care how much villa win by they must win

Goodbye Borough shame it has to end like this
UP THE VILLA

1-0 Villa but hope Boro stay up! Southgate was a hero nd we wish him WEll!!

I am a baggies fan and i am saying that we need villa's help in staying up as there last 2 games are against middlesbrough and newcastle so i say 2-0 to villa this game then 2-1 to villa against newcastle

come on boro we can still do this just win our last two games and newcastle lose theirs!!!!!!!!!!!! come on boro!!!!!

come on boro we can still do this just win our last two games and newcastle lose theirs!!!!!!!!!!!! come on boro!!!!!

1-0 to villa

VILLA MUST KEEP THAT 5TH SPOT

Gibbo,
Let us be honest here.
We are down and why, no real money pal.
You come from Park End pal and you should know better if you compete with the big boys make sure you have armour.
Remember the short walk from Amershan to Overdale.
I think you remember.
Come on Steve what will we all remember, Stokes.??
Bring back Robbo next season, his name is on the job, get us back where we belong Steve.
If Robbo says No, then Keegan is next best for a fast return.
Bring on the kids, no choice for the young kids to shine as all the proven are gone.
Take care.

up the boro 8 1 just like last years final home game
