* The Unofficial "Official" Boro V Stoke Matchday Thread*

pierrequiroule said:
Jones was given MoM with Howson a close second by Maddison, and I agree with him.
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It appears I've had an absolute mare then. By full time I could barely remember either of them spending any significant time on the ball (bar the cross for Watmore's miss, and even that had to be pointed out to me). But on the balance of evidence it seems I'm utterly wrong. To use footballing parlance, I'll take it on the chin and move on to the next one - which I'll try to watch more carefully 😔
 

www.gazettelive.co.uk

Wilder's verdict as he takes many positives from Boro's draw at Stoke

Chris Wilder was pleased to leave Stoke City with a point after Middlesbrough's 0-0 draw
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Chris Wilder's verdict as he takes many positives from Middlesbrough's draw at Stoke​

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Chris Wilder leaves Stoke City happy with both the performance and result as Middlesbrough drew 0-0 at the bet365 Stadium.

In game of contrasting styles, Boro dominated possession but only created one guilt-edged chance and other half-chances as Duncan Watmore's first half miss ensured they wouldn't leave victorious.

But after tipping Stoke to make the play-offs this season ahead of the game, Wilder was satisfied with his side's control of possession and the point they ultimately took from the game.

He said after: "I think we deserved the result - it feels like a winning draw. There is no such thing, I suppose, but it felt like that.

"It felt as if we deserved something, the very least of which was a draw. I’m not saying we dominated. They had a couple of chances, but we limited a very good side to very little. Campbell had that early chance.

"We dictated the flow of the game and it always felt like we had a good foothold in the game, without finding that last little bit. So to do that against a bloody good side and an excellent manager can give us a lot of belief.

“We’re a month in and you look and this is not a below-average Championship side. This is a really strong Championship side that had a lot of years in the Premier League.

“They’ve got Tyrece Campbell and Steven Fletcher at the top of the pitch and Joe Allen, Clucas and Vrancic in midfield. Right the way through, Danny Batth, international goalkeeper and players coming off the bench. Surridge and Tom Ince.

"It’s a really good Championship side that wants to get back up into the Premier League.

“These are no mugs. To play the way we have done says a lot about how we’ve gone about our business."

Boro did dominate possession, finishing with just shy of 60% of the ball, something become a regular feature of Wilder's Boro.
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But one thing they did struggle to do was create much in the game, with the gilt-edged chance from Watmore Boro's only major chance beyond a couple more half-chances.

And if Wilder was to criticise one element of the trip to Stoke, that would be it.

“That would have been my only criticism. We didn’t find that final pass, that final run, cross, finish," he reflected.

“It’s an area that obviously decides tight games. Of course that’s the hardest part of the game, we understand that but the other part, the majority of it, was really good.

“I thought we moved the ball about the pitch really well and dictated the game and allowed us to have a really good foothold in it.

"I don’t think that [Watmore's miss] is the difference in the game because they missed a decent chance as well. Yeah, he would be expected to score, but it wasn’t to be.

"The overall performance I feel was good though, against a side that was potentially the hardest we’ve played so far. They’re a good team with an excellent manager and a lot of good players in-depth.

"You might talk about the missed chance, but they’ve had a good chance as well with Campell.

"Look, I’ve enjoyed watching my team today. I think we’ve played well, come into the backyard of a team that will no doubt be in the play-offs, and we’ve gone toe to toe with them."

Wilder was also asked about his side's defensive solidity in the game, though he was quick to dismiss that Boro were in any way defensive or negative at Stoke.

He continued: "I thought our football was better. There are two sides to any performance but I don’t think it was a backs-against-the-wall performance today.

"I think we dominated the ball. We had to defend when we had to defend, but we never really felt we were massively under the cosh.

"We dictated the flow and the tempo of the game and when we had to defend we did that well in numbers, and had a good shape to us. But I don’t think it was a defensive or negative performance.

"Maybe on another day, I feel we could have shaded winning a tight game."
 
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Nobby_Barnes said:
I prescribe a sense of humour transplant for you Vronsky 🤣🦆 You guessed right it's almost if you had a quick look 🤣
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Yep, thought I'd see you come up with a hilarious response. Hugely impressive too your range of emojis. You may have hoodwinked a couple of posters with your 'humorous' antics but we all saw how treated Coluka and you should be ashamed of yourself. I await your riveting notebook instalment which I'm sure is imminent.

Back on ignore, life's too short for people like you.
 
www.stokecityfc.com

Manager reacts to Boro stalemate

Boss reflects on goalless draw
www.stokecityfc.com www.stokecityfc.com

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Michael O’Neill felt a draw was a fair result following Stoke City’s goalless encounter at home to Middlesbrough this afternoon.

In a game of few chances, the Potters’ best opportunity fell to Tyrese Campbell in the first half but the forward was unable to covert when through on goal.

The result does, however, mean that City have kept five clean sheets in their last seven matches and they remain inside the top six ahead of the trip to Coventry City next weekend.

Speaking to Stoke City+ shortly after the full-time whistle at the bet365 Stadium, O’Neill expressed. “It was probably a fair result, we didn’t do enough to win the game.”

“We had good opportunities in the first half. We made them turn the ball over and had a couple of decent chances off that which we didn’t take advantage of – we just couldn't get the shot off, or that little bit of quality was lacking. They probably had the best chance, though, through (Duncan) Watmore.

“I didn’t think we played well in the first 15/20 minutes of the second half, it took us a while to get going.

“I thought today was the first time we’ve looked a bit leggy, but I suppose when you look at us Morgan (Fox), Tyrese (Campbell) and Sam (Clucas) are all off long-term injuries so you are maybe going to get that.

“We are a bit disappointed we couldn’t do enough to win the game but the important thing was we took something from it.”
 
Michael_Vronsky said:
Yep, thought I'd see you come up with a hilarious response. Hugely impressive too your range of emojis. You may have hoodwinked a couple of posters with your 'humorous' antics but we all saw how treated Coluka and you should be ashamed of yourself. I await your riveting notebook instalment which I'm sure is imminent.

Back on ignore, life's too short for people like you.
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Next home game Vronsky for my notebook. I guess you won't see it though ☹️
 
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