Middlesbrough’s defeat to Crystal Palace means the club have not tasted a Premier League victory since mid-December.
Middlesbrough suffered a 1-0 defeat to fellow relegation rivals Crystal Palace – a result that lifts Sam Allardyce’s Eagles level on points with Aitor Karanka’s Boro.
The game’s decisive moment arrived in the 34th minute, courtesy of a Patrick Van Aanholt strike, to condemn Boro to their twelfth defeat of the season.
Whilst, from the teams in the bottom half of the Premier League table, only Watford and Southampton have lost fewer games (11) than Karanka’s side, it is Middlesbrough’s division lowest tally of four victories that sees the Teeside outfit languishing precariously above the top-flight drop zone – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Boro’s fans.
To focus the issue further, Middlesbrough – despite recruiting forwards Alvaro Negredo, Patrick Bamford, Viktor Fischer, Adama Traore and Rudy Gestede – are by far the lowest scoring side in the Premier League so far this season, with 19 goals; trailing next poorest scoring team Hull City by four strikes.
In light of the defeat to Palace, many a Middlesbrough supporter took to social networking site Twitter to express their concerns regarding the team’s current plight.
Reaction ranged from slight worry, to questioning the players’ passion and the manager’s position – with the latter receiving criticism for Karanka’s negative playing style, deploying players out of position and his recent public relations media work during preparation for the Palace clash.
Former Middlesbrough strike Bernie Slaven also expressed his concern with the club’s poor goalscoring record – with just three goals scored from the past nine games.
Here’s a taste of the reaction from Middlesbrough fans in the aftermath of the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.
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