FOOTBALL Live

Saturday August 16, 2008 Finished Riverside Stadium

Logo 2 - Tottenham 1

Middlesbrough

  • Wheater 71’
  • Mido 86’

Tottenham Hotspur

  • Huth 90’ (o.g.)
  1. Mido sees off Tottenham

    Mido sees off Tottenham

    Middlesbrough got their season off to a fine start with an entertaining 2-1 win over Tottenham at the Riverside Stadium. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Middlesbrough
    • Tottenham Hotspur
    • 90+3' It is indeed too late. There's the final whistle, and Middlesbrough are good value for their 2-1 win. Downing and Tuncay were their star men. On this evidence, Spurs are going to sorely miss Keane and Berbatov.
    • 90+1' GOAL! Spurs have one back, and it's Robert Huth with an own-goal from David Bentley's excellent inswinging free-kick. In off the post. Surely it's too late for them to find an equaliser though?!?!
    • 89' Huge ball out of defence from Boro, and Aliadiere outpaces the Spurs defence...he beats Gomes to the ball, has only the 'keeper to beat...but his attempted lob is an awful one. Spurs are in disarray.
    • 86' Now Mido makes it 2-0!!!! Boro went straight forward from that erroneous throw-in decision, Digard shot from the edge of the area, and was way off target, but close enough that Mido could stick out a leg and turn it home. Gomes had no chance.
    • 85' Absolutely disgraceful decision from the assistant, who ajudged that Zokora knocked it over the line, when it wasn't even nearly over the line. he has quite clearly been influenced by the home fans there.
    • 83' Meanwhile, Mido is on for Alves.
    • 83' Modric is rightly penalised for handball as Alves knocked the ball past him on the left flank. Spurs manage to get it clear, Berbatov plays it clear on the edge of the area...BUT NOBODY GOES TOWARDS THE BALL! The Bulgarian is livid!
    • 80' Cross in from Bentley, it's too long for Bent, Wheater chests it back to Jones but it's too short...O'Hara arrives...but Jones manages to get in the block, while O'Hara goes flying. Wheater will be mightily relieved.
    • 79' Tottenham are anjoying a decent spell of possession here, though are stil lacking incision. But Bent now opens up a few yards outside the area and lets fly...but wide! Not far wide, but wide.
    • 77 Jamie O'Hara is now on for Assou-Ekotto.
    • 76' Berbatov now feeds Jenas as Spurs look to break...and Jenas promptle loses possession, while Bentley is booked for scything down Alves.
    • 74' Now O'Neil forces a smart save from Gomes after another cross from Downing.
    • 73' Needless to say, the Spurs camp will be none too pleased about conceding from a set piece - that was their downfall last season.
    • 71' GOAL! David Wheater puts Boro ahead!!!! Stewart Downing's cross was cleared at the near post but came back to him, his second cross was deflected onto the bar by Alves at the near post, and Wheater was on hand at the back stick to turn it in from close range!
    • 69' Zokora with a teasing cross, which is just milllimetres too long for Bent! Gasps around the ground. The substitution certainly looks to have had its effect.
    • 68' Jenas now surges goalwards, lovely one-two with Berbatov, Jenas shoots...SAVED BY JONES!!! What a chance! Berbatov wanted it back again.
    • 67' Berbatov's first contribution is an overhit cross, which is happpily jeered by the Boro fans. It will be interesting to see his workrate today.
    • 65' Double subtitution for Tottenham. Bale is on for Lennon and Berbatov is on for Giovani.
    • 60' Now Spurs look to counter-attack from a corner after a crucial block from Woodgate...Giovani surges forward and plays in Bent...but his first touch is too heavy and he loses possession. Chance wasted.
    • 55' Jenas dances his way through a few tackles on the Middlesbrough area, is unceremoniously shoved to the ground by Wheater...but no free-kick! Strange decision.
    • 52' Boro on the break yet again, thisn time Alves feeds Tuncay, but Assou-Ekotto shows excellent determination to get back and make the interception! That was a two-on-two situation for a moment.
    • 47' Bentley stings the hands of Jones with a swerving effort from 25 yards!
    • 46' Boro get the second half underway.
    • 45+1' There's the half-time whistle. Goalless, but reasonably entertaining stuff. Middlesbrough will wonder why Wheater's header was disallowed. Dawson was holding his shirt just as much as the other way round.
    • 45' Zokora with a very high bvall into the box...and Jones makes a real hash of it, the Boro defence manage to pick up the pieces though, and yet again Boro pour forward ont he break through Tuncay, he cuts it back for Alves who shoots....but the Brazilian can't get any real power into his shot.
    • 43' Another excellent ball into the bix from Assou-Ekotto is just inches too far ahead of Giovani!!! Now Boro look to hit Spurs on the break, Aliadiere releases Alves, but Woodgate stands his ground and gets in the block.
    • 39' Emanuel Pogatetz is off the field at the moment, getting treatment for a cut on his forehead. Fear not though, "Mad Dog" will be back in a minute or so.
    • 37' Assou Ekotto wins Spurs a corner...it's fired in towards Bent at the back post...but he's penalised for shoving Aliadiere in the back.
    • 34' Wheater has the ball in the back of the net! A fine downward header! Middlesbrough have the lead!!! But no - it's been ruled out for a foul. The big defender was ajudged to have climbed all over his man.
    • 31' Zokora surges down the right flank and whips a dangerous ball into the area...and Wheater clears with Giovani lurking in the middle. In fact Wheater had to get himself out of the way of the ball there to avoid scoring an own-goal.
    • 29' Great ball in from the left friom Assou Ekotto, and Jones gathers at the second attemps with Bent lurking! He flapped a bit there, the Aussie 'keeper.
    • 27' A slight lull in the play at the moment. Downing has just run the ball over the touchline by accident.
    • 24' Still no sign of a first goal yet. Neither goalkeeper has been genuinely tested.
    • 19' Now Boro look to hit Spurs on the break, Tuncay latches onto a long ball over the top of the defence, outpaces Assou-Ekotto...lays it across to Alves who must score....BUT NO!!! THE BRAZILIAN MANAGES TO SIDEFOOT OVER THE BAR FROM JUST 8 YARDS OUT!!! What a chance!
    • 17' Lovely interplay from Modric and Giovani to bring Spurs forward, Bentley plays in Lennon who surges beyond the defence, lays it back, and Middlesbrough just manage to scramble it clear for a corner. Bentley whips it in, but nobody can match the giant Huth in the air.
    • 15' Woodgate spreads the play to Giovani, wonderful control from the Mexican...he goes past two men and lays it off for Bentley...who curls his right foot shot just wide of the post!! Tottenham's best move of the match so far.
    • 13' Middlesbrough have probably shaded it early on, with Downing at the hub of all their attacks. Modric and Jenas are still looking to get their foot on the ball.
    • 11' Downing witha lovely chipped ball over the top for the onrushing Tuncay, Woodgate heads clear, it falls for Alves, and Dawson ghets in a last-ditch challenge to deny the Brazilian a volley from inside the area.
    • 10' Downing with a gorgeous puece of skill to nutmeg Jenas, he fires his shot away...and Gomes gathers at the second attempt! Fine play from Downing.
    • 8' David Wheater concedes a needless corner. Poor header. Bentley again has the chance to fire it in...Jones gets a fist clear...it falls to Giovani...who lashes his volley just wide of the target! Decent opportunity there for the youngster.
    • 5' Bentley cuts inside and fires away a right-foot shot that goes wide of the near post. Spurs have a corner though, it must have taken a deflection. Bentley whips in the corner...but Boro clear comfortably.
    • 3' Excellent work in midfield by Tuncay to dispossess the casual Jenas after Bentley fired a dangerous ball into the heart of the Middlesbrough area.
    • 2' Middlesbrough on the attack now - they earn a corner. Spurs' firsts et piece of the season to defend...and Gomes comes to claim confidently!!! A change from last season.
    • 1' Darren Bent and Giovani get the game underway for Spurs!
    • 14:50 Tottenham, on the other hand, have been in the middle of upheaval. Robbie Keane has gone, and Dimitar Berbatov looks like he is about to go, so Darren Bent leads the line partnered by young Giovani Dos Santos. The much-hyped Luka Modric starts in midfield for Juande Ramos' side.
    • 14:50 It's been a quiet season on the transfer front for Middlesbrough. Most of their summer transfer budget was splashed on Afonso Alves in the January transfer window. He leads the line for an attackuing Middlesbrough side alongside Jeremie Alidadiere. Expect Sanli Tuncay to get forward as often as he can too.
    • 14:30 Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text commentary of Middlesbrough v Tottenham from the Riverside Stadium.

  • Team Stats

    Middlesbrough Stats Tottenham Hotspur
    35% Possession 64%
    17 Shots 8
    7 Shots on target 2
    1 Saves 4
    7 Corners 9
    12 Fouls 12
    3 Offsides 1
    1 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 0
    29 Tackles 16
    189 Accurate passes 417
    58 Bad passes 58

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Middlesbrough
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      22 Bradley Jones 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
      14 Robert Huth 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 11 0 1
      3 Andrew Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 7 1
      31 David Wheater 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 22 2 3
      6 Emanuel Pogatetz 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 10 4 3
      15 Mohamed Shawky 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 18 2 7
      4 Gary O'Neil 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 22 9 5
      19 Stewart Downing 0 2 1 0 2 1 0 26 9 2
      12 Afonso Alves 0 7 2 2 1 0 0 19 10 0
      17 Tuncay Sanli 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 18 5 3
      10 Jeremie Aliadiere 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 19 3 2
      11 Marvin Emnes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      39 Rhys Williams 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Ahmed Hossam Mido 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 2
      40 Jonathon Grounds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Didier Digard 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 10 3 0
      28 Adam Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Ross Turnbull 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Tottenham Hotspur
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Heurelho Gomes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2 0
      20 Michael Dawson 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 39 1 3
      32 Benoit Assou-Ekotto 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 35 16 3
      39 Jonathan Woodgate 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 38 4 2
      17 Giovani dos Santos 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 26 0 1
      14 Luka Modric 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 50 8 1
      8 Jermaine Jenas 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 56 2 1
      7 Aaron Lennon 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 20 4 2
      4 Didier Zokora 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 0 2
      5 David Bentley 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 62 15 0
      10 Darren Bent 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 14 0 0
      9 Dimitar Berbatov 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 9 1 0
      26 Ledley King 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      6 Tom Huddlestone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Jamie O'Hara 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 3 1
      3 Gareth Bale 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 6 2 0
      21 César Sánchez Dominguez 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Chris Gunter 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+1' GOAL! Spurs have one back, and it's Robert Huth with an own-goal from David Bentley's excellent inswinging free-kick. In off the post. Surely it's too late for them to find an equaliser though?!?!
    • 86' Now Mido makes it 2-0!!!! Boro went straight forward from that erroneous throw-in decision, Digard shot from the edge of the area, and was way off target, but close enough that Mido could stick out a leg and turn it home. Gomes had no chance.
    • 80' Cross in from Bentley, it's too long for Bent, Wheater chests it back to Jones but it's too short...O'Hara arrives...but Jones manages to get in the block, while O'Hara goes flying. Wheater will be mightily relieved.
    • 71' GOAL! David Wheater puts Boro ahead!!!! Stewart Downing's cross was cleared at the near post but came back to him, his second cross was deflected onto the bar by Alves at the near post, and Wheater was on hand at the back stick to turn it in from close range!
    • 68' Jenas now surges goalwards, lovely one-two with Berbatov, Jenas shoots...SAVED BY JONES!!! What a chance! Berbatov wanted it back again.
    • 47' Bentley stings the hands of Jones with a swerving effort from 25 yards!
    • 43' Another excellent ball into the bix from Assou-Ekotto is just inches too far ahead of Giovani!!! Now Boro look to hit Spurs on the break, Aliadiere releases Alves, but Woodgate stands his ground and gets in the block.
    • 34' Wheater has the ball in the back of the net! A fine downward header! Middlesbrough have the lead!!! But no - it's been ruled out for a foul. The big defender was ajudged to have climbed all over his man.
    • 31' Zokora surges down the right flank and whips a dangerous ball into the area...and Wheater clears with Giovani lurking in the middle. In fact Wheater had to get himself out of the way of the ball there to avoid scoring an own-goal.
    • 19' Now Boro look to hit Spurs on the break, Tuncay latches onto a long ball over the top of the defence, outpaces Assou-Ekotto...lays it across to Alves who must score....BUT NO!!! THE BRAZILIAN MANAGES TO SIDEFOOT OVER THE BAR FROM JUST 8 YARDS OUT!!! What a chance!
    • 15' Woodgate spreads the play to Giovani, wonderful control from the Mexican...he goes past two men and lays it off for Bentley...who curls his right foot shot just wide of the post!! Tottenham's best move of the match so far.
    • 11' Downing witha lovely chipped ball over the top for the onrushing Tuncay, Woodgate heads clear, it falls for Alves, and Dawson ghets in a last-ditch challenge to deny the Brazilian a volley from inside the area.
    • 8' David Wheater concedes a needless corner. Poor header. Bentley again has the chance to fire it in...Jones gets a fist clear...it falls to Giovani...who lashes his volley just wide of the target! Decent opportunity there for the youngster.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Martin Atkinson

  • Middlesbrough

    Manager: Gareth Southgate

    Captain: Stewart Downing

    Starting line-up

    • B. Jones
    • E. Pogatetz
    • R. Huth Own Goal
    • D. Wheater Goal
    • A. Taylor
    • M. Shawky
    • G. O'Neil
    • S. Tuncay Substitution Out (74′)
    • S. Downing
    • J. Aliadière
    • A. Alves Substitution Out (82′)

    Subs

    • A. Mido Substitution In82′ Goal
    • R. Turnbull
    • D. Digard Substitution In74′ Yellow Card
    • A. Johnson
    • R. Williams
    • J. Grounds
    • M. Emnes

    Injured

    • J. Arca
    • M. Bates
    • S. Hines

    Suspended

    None

  • Tottenham Hotspur

    Manager: Juande Ramos

    Starting line-up

    • H. Gomes
    • D. Zokora
    • M. Dawson
    • J. Woodgate
    • B. Assou-Ekotto Substitution Out (77′)
    • J. Jenas
    • D. Bentley Yellow Card
    • L. Modric
    • A. Lennon Substitution Out (65′)
    • G. Dos Santos Substitution Out (65′)
    • D. Bent

    Subs

    • L. King
    • C. Sanchez
    • D. Berbatov Substitution In65′
    • T. Huddlestone
    • J. O'Hara Substitution In77′
    • G. Bale Substitution In65′
    • C. Gunter

    Injured

    • A. Hutton

    Suspended

    None