Middlesbrough hosted Burnley with the aim of picking up their first win of the year. Burnley also hoped to put an end to an awful streak in the form of their winless away record this season. The game started off very slowly. Neither side looked like creating much. This resulted in the teams going in at half-time with neither side registering a shot on goal.
Thankfully, the second half was slightly more exciting. Both sides managed to carve out some good chances later in the game. Most notably, Brady’s effort for Burnley which he put over and chances from Ayala, Negredo and Downing for Boro. Despite the flurry of chances though, neither side managed to find the back of the net and the game ended 0-0.
The result leaves Boro six points from safety with a seemingly impossible run of fixtures left to avoid the drop. Meanwhile, Burnley now sits on 36 points with six games left, meaning they are almost definitely staying up.
Burnley still yet to win away this season
Burnley has one of the worst away records in English football this season. Before today Burnley had played 15 away league games and not won a single one. Only Rotherham shares such an awful record in all the top English leagues.
Therefore, when they travelled to the team in the worst form in the league they saw it as a great opportunity to finally end that record. However, they were unsuccessful. This is not surprising though after watching the game. For most of the game, Burnley created very little, sat back and seemed quite happy to take a goalless draw.
This was strange as you would have thought they could have used this opportunity to put an end to such an awful record as if they would have attacked more, they probably would have beaten the out of form Boro.
While this record does not seem to have hindered them so much this season, they might not be as lucky next year and will want to win an away game sooner rather than later.
Keane should have seen red
Probably the biggest talking point of this game is the fact Michael Keane should have been sent off. In the 84th minute Boro sub, Patrick Bamford was through on goal. Keane took him out and to the astonishment of almost everyone, he only received a yellow.
This was surprising because Bamford was clearly through on goal and the only defender near him was Keane. Thus, the rules state that Keane should have seen red. But, a Premier League referee managed to miss this and Keane remained on the pitch.
While the incident took place late in the game it still could have had a huge impact. If Keane was not on the pitch Boro might have managed to nick a goal. Unfortunately, we will never know what the outcome might have been had Keane saw red. It’s certainly one Boro fans will not want to think about.
Boro’s missed chances plus lack of quality leaves them staring relegation in the face
Once again, Middlesbrough failed to win a Premier League game. This leaves Boro six points from safety and with an impossible mountain to climb. The Reds did have some good chances today but once again their lack of quality failed them.
Boro’s key chances came from a Negredo bicycle kick in the 67th minute that he put straight at Heaton, a free kick from Downing in the 85th which Lowton cleared off the line and a Daniel Ayala header in the 86th which was also cleared by Lowton.
While you can argue good defending from Burnley prevented Boro from scoring, a more realistic view is that Boro lacked the quality to break down Burnley and take key chances. This is shown by the fact Middlesbrough did not have a shot on goal in the first half. It is also shown through the fact their only really good chances did not come until the 85th minute.
As Burnley sat back for most of the game if Boro did create more and take their chances they could have easily won. Once again though, Middlesbrough’s poor quality in the final third has let them down. They now look all but certain to go.
