Middlesbrough v Manchester City
FA Cup Third Round
Saturday January 2 2010
Kick-off 3pm, the Riverside Stadium on Teeside
In what promises to be a frigid, injury-impacted affair on Teeside this Saturday, recent Championship-relegated Middlesboro take on a Manchester City team who’ve had their share of headlines in the last month. Both clubs will enter this third round FA Cup tie with many players unavailable which should create for an exciting match as younger or substitute players get a run out and a chance to prove to their managers that they have a place in the side. Those kinds of matches, to City’s chagrin, can often end up topsy-turvy with unpredictable results sometimes predictably foreshadowed.
The last time City faced Boro in the FA Cup it was 1997 in a 5th Round tie at Maine Rd which ended in a 1-0 Boro win, the only goal coming from famed Brasilian Juninho.
City’s end of 2007/08 season pounding at Boro still rings in the ears of City fans, as City were famously hammered 8-1 as the team laid down after learning that manager Sven-Göran Eriksson was to be sacked after the match. City avoided that fate by responsibly waiting to sack Mark Hughes until after he’d beaten Sunderland 4-3 several weeks ago, but thankfully that resentment, both with a portion of the fan base and the media at large, has waned and new boss Roberto Mancini has kicked off to a bright start in Manchester with 2 wins and 2 clean sheets on the trot. No doubt he’ll want to avoid a loss in what won’t be an easy tie against Gordon Strachan’s unfashionable Boro side.
Boro will still like their chances against an injury-stricken City side despite their own injury concerns. On a frigid cold northern pitch, Strachan will know how to optimize his chances for cup survival and build a team to test City’s defensive resolve, notably with young strikers with a lot to prove and their prize asset, versatile winger Adam Johnson. Strachan could need to hand the keys to teenagers Jonathan Franks and Luke Williams to see what they can accomplish up front. With neither being seen as ready for first team football, it’s a risk Boro won’t want to take when the professional demeanor of a steady strike force will be seen as their best chance for success. Conventional wisdom might be best thrown out the window however, and Boro could find that an unproven, and unknown, strike force is just what the doctor ordered to unsettle City’s newfound defensive resilience under Roberto Mancini’s zonal marking focus. Unsettling City’s back four will be the key to any chance Middlesboro have in this fixture – scoring one goal vs. City could cause them to leak three…and that’s what Strachan will be hoping he can accomplish Saturday.
Recent Form
Boro’s last outing was a disappointing come-from-ahead 2-1 defeat to Barnsley. The bright side of that affair which impacts this weekend’s tie is that both goals by the Tykes were headed into goal. City should field a side with an average height of Five-foot-Eight, which should provide a built-in defense against scoring a towering header or two in the box from a set play or a game of head tennis in the box.
Boro sit 10th in the Championship table, however just 5 pts shy of the playoff spots with plenty of football left to play. More startling, however, is their inability to defend their home turf, having lost 6 of 12 home matches so far this season. That kind of form will not impress Strachan and surely will force them to spend another season in the Championship if they cannot get it corrected quickly. No better steerage can be afforded at certain times than a huge home win against the “richest club in the world” as City are often dubbed. Dressing room talk is sure to centre around how protecting their home pitch against these wealthy invaders and being a bit of a giant-killer can propel their entire season into a positive direction in the New Year.
Boro won just 2 of 6 matches in a crowded December schedule, including a 2-0 Tyne-Tees derby loss. A Northeast derby pummelling of Scunthorpe won’t actually have provided much satisfaction. Strachan has taken the side which Garreth Southgate had in 4th position in early days of the season to 11th, winning just 2 in 10, and Steve Gibson will want to start to see Strachan progress quickly towards the playoff spots and promotion to the Premiership.
City have won 2 matches on the trot with clean sheets, and 3 in total, against opponents they can be expected to beat if they are serious about their Champions League aspirations. The most impressive feat has certainly been a newfound defensive solidity under Mancini, despite backline injury woes. Can City avoid what is surely a banana peel that is the Teesiders ahead of the Carling Cup semi-final derby home leg against United next week?
Key Men
Middlesboro
Adam Johnson
Boro’s much-coveted winger has scored loads of goals this season to keep a sputtering Boro frontline from causing them to freefall in the table, and will look to continue that trend in a match that is sure to prompt more transfer gossip for the young man if the winger can turn City’s RB around and make a difference in the match. Out of contract at the end of the season, Johnson is likely to find a bigger club in the summer. City will counter with Micah Richards most likely, and Richards will have to really focus his energy to contain Johnson and limit Boro’s width. Most challenging for City is that if Johnson finds a challenge on the right side of defense he can always have a go on the left given his versatility, where City are perhaps weaker. Regardless, City’s ability to control the width of the match on their terms will be key. Expect Mancini to counter with like for like and hand teenage sensation Vladimir Weiss a starting nod on the right wing, with Martin Petrov on the left to provide a counterpoint to Johnson.
City
Carlos Tevez
City’s talisman has shown how he single-handedly kept up West Ham and created a legal furor in the process, and why he had most of London singing “Fergie Sign him up” during two years at Old Trafford.
Tevez is at the peak of his scoring, and dancing game. Is it love that’s the secret to his success?
Injuries, Suspension, African Cup of Nations duty, Loan deals ending, etc
City will be missing Stephen Ireland, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Johnson, Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge and Ned Onuoha due to injury and Emanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure on international duty for the Africa Cup of Nations. Additionally, speed demon/City legend Craig Bellamy might have a knee niggle which keeps him rested for the midweek Carling Cup semi-final tie against the football club from Old Trafford.
Boro may be missing their entire strike force due to injury, or loan deals ending for Marcus Bent, and Dave Kitson. Additionally striker Leroy Lita is suspended. Also, David Wheater and Emanuel Pogatetz (of whom flying Dutchman Steve McLaren once said “He never, ever, gives less than 300% in performance.” so I would expect him to be passed fit if that’s true) face late fitness tests and Isiah Osbourne is ineligible.
Prediction
City 2 – 0 Boro
City win the match at a comfy pace in a professional manner against a depleted Boro side who cannot muster much to really threaten City over 90 minutes.
Thank you to DoomMerchant from www.mancityfans.net for this FA Cup Preview