.png)
1 hour ago
5
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Full time: Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton
This semi-final will be decided at St Mary’s on Tuesday.
90+4 min: Manning’s cross is poor.
90+3 min: Jander wins a free-kick in crossing range for Southampton. Manning will deliver again … just as he did when Harwood-Bellis hit the bar a few minutes before.
90+2 min: Targett finds some space in the box but sends a left-footed cross behind for a goal-kick.
90+1 min: Morris sends a cross into the Southampton box but Peretz comes out to gather the loose ball.
90 min: Three minutes are added at the Riverside.
89 min: Many Middlesbrough fans can’t watch as Southampton put more pressure on their side and look to take a slender lead back south.
87 min: Massive chance for Saints! Charles sets up a counterattack with some smart feet and feeds the ball down the line for Stewart. He picks his head up and finds substitute Edozie running through the middle. The shot, when it comes, is just wide of the far post!
Southampton hit the bar!
85 min: Manning it is who delivers the free-kick left-footed – Harwood-Bellis charges on to it and sends it crashing against the crossbar with his header. Fry is able to head clear for Middlesbrough but they are living dangerously.
84 min: Azaz and Bree combine and Matsuki floats a cross to the back post but Stewart is on his heels and Middlesbrough scramble it away. Boro win a cheap free-kick that Manning or Scienza will deliver into the box.
82 min: Southampton are happy to ping the ball among themselves at the back. They’re the more confident side now – there’s some nail-biting going on in the home end.
80 min: Browne goes down in the Southampton box as Charles bumps into him. There’s contact but Browne makes the most of it. Targett’s corner is headed clear by Stewart, who hasn’t seen much action going forward since coming on.
78 min: More Middlesbrough changes – Sarmiento for Whittaker and Castledine for Strelec.
76 min: It’s all a bit quiet and nervy around the Riverside after another spell of Southampton pressure. It’s been a different game in the second half but Boro still look dangerous on the counter.
The referee bumps into a Boro player during one of those counters …
74 min: Southampton win a corner off Targett which Scienza drifts in. It’s cleared but the second cross is better, with Targett there again to help the ball out for a throw-in.
72 min: Manning is the latest to overhit a cross in this game. Azaz collects for Boro, chops inside and his cross is easily plucked out the sky by Brynn.
Manning tries to feed the ball through for Scienza in the box but Morris comes across to prod it away from danger.
70 min: Changes for both teams – Browne replaces McGree for Middlesbrough while Charles and Matsuki replace Downes and Fellows for Southampton.
Charles immediately has an attempt at goal, striking a half-volley over from the edge of the box.
68 min: Scienza uses the overlapping Manning as a decoy, cuts inside again and his shot is blocked again. Manning would’ve been in a great position to cut the ball back from the byline.
66 min: Fellows completely miscues a clearance and the ball comes through to Conway on the edge of the Saints box. Conway tries a one-two with Brittain but the return ball is wayward. Azaz sees the ball out for a goal-kick.
64 min: Fellows is next to test Middlesbrough’s defence with a ball into the box from the left but Brittain is able to clear.
62 min: Scienza flits a ball into the box after cutting inside but it’s hoofed clear by Middlesbrough. Scienza comes again, darts inside and curls a shot over.
60 min: Larin’s afternoon is over, with Ross Stewart coming on in his place. He’s had virtually nothing to feed off except that cross at the start of the second half.
59 min: Scienza can have a rare run into the Middlesbrough half, cutting a ball back to the edge of the box but Ayling drops a shoulder and brings it away. Downes brings down Whittaker on the break and gets a booking.
57 min: Brittain delivers a dangerous ball into the box for Boro and Strelec gets a flick on it. The home crowd cry out for handball as the ball comes off a Southampton defender on its way through. It came off Harwood-Bellis’s thigh.
55 min: Morris gets a sore one off Larin as he drives into Boro’s final third. The Saints striker treads on his ankles and bundles him over and rightly gets a yellow card.
53 min: Middlesbrough react well as Targett’s cut-back is prodded out for a corner. It goes short, Targett delivers into the box and McGree’s flick-on bobbles out for a goal-kick without a finishing touch at the back post.
51 min: Larin should score! Southampton looked to have sprung a trap here. Fellows produces a stepover out wide and a cross to the back post, where Larin is unchallenged and heads into the side-netting.
49 min: Manning flashes a low cross across the six-yard box and Ayling toes it back towards his goalkeeper. Southampton have looked more of a threat already than the whole of the first 45 minutes.
47 min: Manning takes his time over a throw in the Boro half.
Restart
Southampton get us back under way and they immediately head where they had not gone before – deep into the Middlesbrough half.
“I cannot believe we are not ahead,” writes Middlesbrough fan Vic Rushton. “Conway should have had a hat trick. Though Southampton can’t be this bad in the second half. The nerves and frustration will start to get unbearable the longer this goes on. We’ve seen this before.”
I really think this Southampton performance – of course meticulously prepared – is by design. Sit back and hold on for a draw. Although I agree that they’ve got to do better heading the other way. They’ve not had a shot and not even come close.
Half-time reading: The League One playoffs get under way later today, starting with Stevenage v Stockport County at 3pm. Dominic Booth has been to check on Stockport during their preparations this week …
Half-time: Middlesbrough 0-0 Southampton
As one-sided a half of football as you will ever see. Middlesbrough have had all of the ball and all of the attempts at goal (17 to 0) but Southampton have held firm. Both managers will be fairly pleased with it, ironically.
45+2 min: Wood concedes another corner and Ayling’s flick-on at the near post is wide.
45+1 min: Whittaker’s corner is cleared by Southampton.
45 min: Whittaker’s shot flies over via a deflection as two minutes are added on at the end of the half.
44 min: Ayling tries to find McGree at the back post but the offside flag goes up. Let’s just say Southampton could do with half-time.
