Middlesbrough ended their winless run on the road, beating Birmingham 2-0 at St. Andrews on Tuesday night,
Middlesbrough had won just one of their previous eight away games, but managed to get all three points at Birmingham.
The result pushes Boro up the table and back into the play-off places into sixth. However, Sheffield United and Luton could go back above Chris Wilder’s side with a victory tonight.
The 2-0 win at St. Andrews came courtesy of goals from Premier League loanees Aaron Connolly and Folarin Balogun. Whilst Paddy McNair had a penalty saved early in the second half.
There were plenty of good performances from Middlesbrough last night, here are 3 who impressed…
Anfernee Dijksteel – WhoScored rating 8.0
One of the defender’s best performances in a Boro shirt. They have missed his drive out from the back in recent weeks having sat out the previous two fixtures through illness.
Dijksteel had the joint-second most amount of key passes, most dribbles, second-most tackles, second-most clearances, and grabbed an assist, whilst helping his side get a clean sheet.
Matt Crooks – WhoScored rating 7.6
It speaks volumes that this was nowhere near Matt Crooks at his best, yet he was still one of the highest performing players against Lee Bowyer’s side.
Most tackles and most interceptions and a whopping 10 aerial duels won on the night showcased why he is such an important part of the Boro squad.
Marcus Tavernier – WhoScored rating 7.5
With a rating only slightly higher than that of the two goalscorers Balogun and Connolly, and wing-back Isaiah Jones, Tavernier was excellent on Tuesday evening.
He had the most shots out of anyone on the pitch, made the most key passes and had the most touches out of all of Boro’s team.
