After being relegated on Monday, Middlesbrough went into this game hoping to at least give their fans something to cheer. Unfortunately for Boro fans, this was not the case.
The first half involved very little action and very few chances from either side. However, Jay Rodriguez connected with a Shane Long cross in the 42nd minute and managed to give Southampton the lead just before the break thanks to some very lacklustre Middlesbrough defending.
The second half was somewhat more lively. Second half substitute Nathan Redmond gave the Saints a 2-0 lead in the 57th minute with Rodriguez providing the assist this time. Shane Long then had a chance to kill the game off in the 64th minute. Guzan came out of his goal and in a rash decision chose to bring down Long in the box. Luckily for Boro Guzan stayed on and then long blazed his spot-kick over the bar. Patrick Bamford then gave Boro some hope when he headed home in the 72nd minute.
However, Boro once again could not score enough goals and the game finished 2-1.
Bamford to be Boro’s key man next season
With Middlesbrough relegated it is unlikely Alvaro Negredo will be a Boro player next season. Therefore, Middlesbrough needs to find a new goal scorer. At the moment their options are Patrick Bamford, Stuani and Gestede.
After today’s game and his previous Championship run, Boro’s goal scorer next season looks likely to be Patrick Bamford. Today was Bamford’s first Premier League start for Middlesbrough and he managed to cap it off with a goal. Bamford connected with Victor Fischer’s cross and scored his first goal for any club since his loan spell at Boro in 2014/15. Middlesbrough fans will be hoping today’s goal has given the forward some confidence back and that he can now kick on and continue to score goals next season to bring Boro pack to the Premier League.
In his fist loan spell at Boro, Bamford managed 19 goals in all competitions. He was Boro’s top scorer and managed to guide them to the play-off final that year. He also received Championship player of the year for that season. Now he is back scoring for Boro he can hopefully have a similar season next year to his superb one in 2014/15.
Agnew needs to go
One again Middlesbrough put on a very disappointing performance. They are still not getting men forward enough and still not scoring enough goals. This was the main reason Agnew replaced Karanka but now under Agnew, Boro also concede goals way too easily as well as failing to score enough. Agnew has now taken charge of 10 Boro matches. In this time Middlesbrough have won once. That win also only came because it was against the worst side in the league, Sunderland. This shows Agnew has not improved Middlesbrough in any way since taking over from Karanka. If anything he has made them worse because their once solid defence is breached much more easily under him.
The general consensus from Middlesbrough fans is also that he needs to go so if Boro wants to have a fighting chance next season they need to replace him. Because he has already lost the fans and has not improved Middlesbrough since Karanka left.
Long’s penalty miss
After a poor performance in midweek when he let three goals through his legs Guzan once again made a big error. He came rushing out and took out Shane Long. Long then stepped up to take the penalty.
However, he blazed his penalty over. While this was good for Guzan and Boro it also means Shane Long has gone another game without a goal. Long’s last goal came 11 games ago against Sunderland. For a Premier League striker, this is really poor form and Long will have shattered his confidence even more after not even getting his penalty on target.
With Southampton looking to improve next season, this poor run of form and that awful penalty could mean Southampton will look to replace him in the summer. Because if one of your main strikers has gone 11 games without a goal you are very unlikely to be finishing high in the table.
