FOOTBALL Live

Saturday May 3, 2008 Finished Riverside Stadium

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Middlesbrough

  • Riggott 39’
  • Tuncay 53’

Portsmouth

  1. Boro overcome Portsmouth

    Boro overcome Portsmouth

    Middlesbrough secured their Premiership status for next season with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth at the Riverside. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Middlesbrough
    • Portsmouth
    • 90+3' It's all over! Middlesbrough win 2-0, and are safe!
    • 90' We're into injury time now, and Boro have Pompey pinned back in their own half.
    • 88' Cattermole is on for Boateng.
    • 85' Harry Redknapp looks thoroughly bored on the bench. His day in the sun will come on 17th May.
    • 82' Jermain Defoe goes down in the area appealing for a penalty, but the referee waves it away...probably correctly. There wasn't enough contact from Wheater.
    • 80' Credit to the Pompey fans. They have travelled for hours and hours to get here, their team is 2-0 down, and they're still singing away.
    • 77' Boro are containing Portsmouth well. Now they carve out a glorious chance for Downing who is unmarked at the back post...but Ashdown pulls off an excellent save!!!! It was Arca who laid on a perfect pass for the winger, who should really have put the game totally to bed!
    • 72' David Wheater has gone down in hiw own area under an absolutely crunching aerial challenge. He should be alright to continue.
    • 70' Downing with a ratehr ambitious shot from 40 yards that sails into the crowd behind the goal.
    • 67' Nugent and Davis are on for Diop and Baros.
    • 63' Niko Kranjcar latches onto a lonng throw from Hreidarsson, turns inside Wheater, and drills a right foot shot just wide of the post!
    • 61' Jeremie Aliadiere is on for Afonso Alves.
    • 60' Niko Kranjcar flashes a 40-yard piledriver just wide of the post from a free-kick. Not a bad effort, but surely the odds dictate he shouldn't shoot from that kind of range.
    • 57' Harry Redknapp will not be pleased with the goals his side has conceded today. Both were from set pieces, and both were down to lax marking.
    • 53' GOAL!!!! Tuncay makes it 2-0 and Boro are all but safe!!!! Glen Johnson loses Tuncay at the near post, and the Turk glances Rochemback's corner home!
    • 50' Neat ball over the top of the defence by Rochemback for Tuncay, though the Turkish international can only thump the ball high into the side-netting.
    • 48' The free-kick is flighted in towards Hreidarsson at the far post, he brings it down, but can get no real purchase on his toe-poke goalwards.
    • 47' Arca is booked for pulling the shirt of Diarra in midfield. The former Arsenal man has been excellent so far.
    • 46' We're underway in the second half at the Riverside.
    • 45+1' There's the half-time whistle. It's Middlesbrough who have the lead, though Pompey have carved out the majority of the chances.
    • 45' Diarra brings down Rochemback and Boro have another free-kick in a wide position at the end of the half. Rochemback with another fantastic ball into the centre, plenty of pace, and Riggott couldn't quite steer it goalward.
    • 42' Pompey a little static for once in their build up play. Diop was urging Johnson to carry on his run, but the full back was caught on his heels.
    • 39' GOAL!!!! Middlesbrough have the lead, through a towering Chris Riggott header from a corner. He was up well above Distin. They had been applying the majority of the pressure int he last few minutes, and now they have their reward.
    • 38' Hreidarsson wrongsfoots Young, cuts inside and fires away a decent shot that Arca deflects behind for a corner....which Boro clear.
    • 35' Tuncay tries to slot in the overlapping Downing, but Johnson reads the pass perfectly.
    • 33' Boateng plays Young in behind the defence, but he delayed the pass a little too long and the offside flag goes up.
    • 29' Afonso Alves bustles his way through the centre and shifts it onto his right foot, fires a shot away from 20 yards, but it's always moving wide of the near post.
    • 26' Boateng swings it in to the back post for Downing, he nods down for Rochemback who shoots....but Diarra arrives in the nick of time to get in the vital challenge!
    • 24' Arca arrows a rather weak ball to the back post, and there's pretty much nothing that Downing can do with that. Not enough pace on the ball.
    • 19' Mvuemba once again gets free down the right hand side and lays it back, this time for Baros...but he thumps it into row X.
    • 18' Defoe tries to burst through the centre, but he's eased out of it by Wheater.
    • 16' The tempo of the game has dropped away in the last few minutes. Not much to report, I'm afraid.
    • 14' Downing and Alves are beginning to make their presence felt in the Boro half, though Pompey are coping well. The battle between Campbell and Alves will be a fascinating one this afternoon.
    • 10' Well, it's Pompey who will be by far the happier after the first ten minutes. They have carved out three chances already.
    • 7' Two ventures forward from Tuncay have been the only real moments of note for Boro, though neither of them have brought any joy for the visitors so far.
    • 6' Diarra has been excellent in midfield in the opening stages. He wins a free-kick off Arca.
    • 5' Great ball out of defence from Distin to release Mvuemba, he surges down the right and pulls it back for Baros...whose shot it closed down, it falls for Johnson, and he lashes wide of the post!!!
    • 4' Another free-kick in the Boro half for Pompey. Kranjcar takes it this time...it's an excellent delivery, and Hreidarsson somehow volleys straight up into the air after ghosting in at the near post! That was a chance!
    • 2' A win today would guarantee Boro survival, but it's Portsmouth who have the first free-kick. Muntari with the cross, and Wheater heads clear.
    • 1' We're underway at the Riverside!
    • 14:30 Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text coverage of Middlesbrough v Portsmouth from the Riverside.

  • Team Stats

    Middlesbrough Stats Portsmouth
    45% Possession 54%
    11 Shots 15
    4 Shots on target 2
    1 Saves 2
    7 Corners 5
    11 Fouls 16
    4 Offsides 1
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    21 Tackles 27
    234 Accurate passes 306
    47 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
      1 Mark Schwarzer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
      31 David Wheater 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 6
      6 Emanuel Pogatetz 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 13 2
      2 Luke Young 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 25 1 0
      5 Chris Riggott 1 2 1 2 1 0 0 21 1 0
      7 George Boateng 0 0 0 5 2 0 0 25 0 1
      3 Julio Arca 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 29 5 2
      10 Fábio Rochemback 0 0 0 3 3 0 1 54 9 7
      19 Stewart Downing 0 4 1 1 1 0 1 18 10 0
      17 Tuncay Sanli 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 24 3 1
      12 Afonso Alves 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 9 4 1
      27 Lee Cattermole 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
      21 Ross Turnbull 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      11 Jeremie Aliadiere 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 1 1
      33 Andrew Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Adam Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      21 Jamie Ashdown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 8 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 1 1
      7 Hermann Hreidarsson 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 35 10 3
      5 Glen Johnson 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 26 3 6
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 35 7 0
      8 Papa Bouba Diop 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 30 4 2
      6 Lassana Diarra 0 1 0 3 2 0 0 40 5 5
      18 Arnold Mvuemba 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 35 3 3
      19 Niko Kranjcar 0 3 0 1 3 0 0 36 9 4
      14 Jermain Defoe 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 10 1 3
      9 Milan Baros 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 15 3 0
      22 Richard Hughes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 David Nugent 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 2 0
      4 Bisan Lauren 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      31 Asmir Begovic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Sean Davis 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 2 0

  • Summary

    • 82' Jermain Defoe goes down in the area appealing for a penalty, but the referee waves it away...probably correctly. There wasn't enough contact from Wheater.
    • 77' Boro are containing Portsmouth well. Now they carve out a glorious chance for Downing who is unmarked at the back post...but Ashdown pulls off an excellent save!!!! It was Arca who laid on a perfect pass for the winger, who should really have put the game totally to bed!
    • 53' GOAL!!!! Tuncay makes it 2-0 and Boro are all but safe!!!! Glen Johnson loses Tuncay at the near post, and the Turk glances Rochemback's corner home!
    • 45' Diarra brings down Rochemback and Boro have another free-kick in a wide position at the end of the half. Rochemback with another fantastic ball into the centre, plenty of pace, and Riggott couldn't quite steer it goalward.
    • 39' GOAL!!!! Middlesbrough have the lead, through a towering Chris Riggott header from a corner. He was up well above Distin. They had been applying the majority of the pressure int he last few minutes, and now they have their reward.
    • 5' Great ball out of defence from Distin to release Mvuemba, he surges down the right and pulls it back for Baros...whose shot it closed down, it falls for Johnson, and he lashes wide of the post!!!
    • 4' Another free-kick in the Boro half for Pompey. Kranjcar takes it this time...it's an excellent delivery, and Hreidarsson somehow volleys straight up into the air after ghosting in at the near post! That was a chance!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Middlesbrough

    Manager: Gareth Southgate

    Captain: David Wheater

    On the Field

    • Jones
    • Young
    • Wheater
    • Riggott Goal
    • Pogatetz
    • Boateng Substitution Out (88′)
    • Rochemback
    • Arca
    • Downing
    • Tuncay Goal
    • Alves Substitution Out (61′)

    Subs

    • Aliadière Substitution In61′
    • Turnbull
    • Johnson
    • Cattermole Substitution In88′
    • Taylor

    Injured

    • O'Neil
    • Mido
    • Huth

    Suspended

    None

  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Harry Redknapp

    Captain: Sol Campbell

    On the Field

    • Ashdown
    • Johnson
    • Campbell
    • Distin
    • Hreidarsson
    • Mvuemba
    • Bouba Diop Substitution Out (70′)
    • Diarra
    • Kranjcar
    • Baros Substitution Out (70′)
    • Defoe

    Subs

    • Lauren
    • Davis Substitution In70′
    • Hughes
    • Nugent Substitution In70′
    • Begovic

    Injured

    • James
    • Primus

    Suspended

    None