Aitor Karanka’s side have put an end to a run of three straight defeats. Which players impressed?
Middlesbrough played out a 1-1 draw with West Ham United at London Stadium. The match represented a huge chance to turn around the recent fortunes of both teams, but equally as important was the necessity to avoid defeat with each side sat low in the table.
Unfortunately, the fear of another loss was evident in the play of the two teams throughout the game. Momentum swung in favour of each of the clubs on numerous occasions, however after 90 minutes the draw seemed a fair reflection of the match. But how did the Middlesbrough players’ performance rate individually?
Victor Valdes – 6/10
This game represented the most assured display in a Boro shirt so far for the Spanish stopper. He appears to be commanding his penalty area with far greater authority, and although his kicking could still do with some improvement, Valdes is looking more and more like a Premier League keeper.
Antonio Barragan – 5/10
Barragan had a tough time keeping Dimitri Payet quiet on West Ham’s left-hand side in truth – but then, there’s not too much shame in that! The former Valencia man didn’t have a howler by any means, but much like his last match when faced with an in-form Heung Min Son, when Payet was able to take on the defender one on one, Barragan could not provide the resistance that his team needed. Some decent link up play with Christian Stuani.
Calum Chambers – 7/10
Chambers is beginning to look every bit the talent that attracted Arsenal two summers ago. Unlike the previous week where he showed good touches against Spurs but made one or two costly mistakes, this game was a stand-out one for the 21 year-old. His display was filled with well-timed tackles, useful clearances and crisp passing.
Ben Gibson – 6/10
Another consummately solid performance from Gibson, blocking and clearing most of the action that came his way. Was one of the number of Boro defenders guilty of flapping at the ball instead of trying to jockey Dimitri Payet during his mazey solo run that eventually culminated with West Ham’s goal.
George Friend – 5/10
Seemed comfortable enough in the first half of the match whilst up against West Ham’s Gokhan Tore, but when Michail Antonio was switched to match up with the Boro skipper in the second half, Friend found things a little tougher. His suspect defending was embodied by West Ham’s goal where Friend fell to the ground to allow Payet to continue his run and level the scores.
Marten de Roon – 6/10
Took his time to grow into the game, but made one terrific tackle early on in the game to spur his side into action. Made an important tackle on Payet late in the game when he was bearing down on Boro’s goal once again. Picked up a yellow card for his troubles.
Adam Forshaw – 7/10
The 24-year-old was his usual energetic self in the middle of the park, and was an important cog in the Boro machine with his range of passing. Put a fantastic through ball into the path of striker Jordan Rhodes that could have ended in a goal had the forward pulled off a better first touch.
Christian Stuani – 6/10
Scored a well-taken goal, with a bullet header from a Boro corner, but in truth contributed little else. The lack of quality in his crossing meant that striker Rhodes was left frustrated with little to work with. Perhaps surprising that he wasn’t replaced by the exciting Adama Traore towards the end of the game when he appeared to tire.
Viktor Fischer – 6/10
Fischer clearly still needs some time to adapt to the physical nature of the English game, but that said the Dane did show some nice touches to link up some Boro attacking. For now it seems as though Fischer would probably be better served by being deployed on the wing where he can dribble at defenders with more space. Was replaced late on by Gaston Ramirez, who also put in an encouraging performance from a Middlesbrough fan perspective. The Boro supporters seem to be taking to Fischer really well with his pace and work ethic.
Jordan Rhodes – 5/10
Only had scraps to feed off, but made next to nothing of those scraps. Had a couple of opportunities to lay the ball off into the path of one of his team-mates instead of shooting speculatively at goal. Could have made more of a nice through ball from Forshaw with a better control. He does however offer a little more pace and running in attack as opposed to Boro’s other major striker Alvaro Negredo, so maybe offers an option off the bench.
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