Middlesbrough 0-1 Blackburn Rovers: Dom Hyam strikes late to deny Boro fourth straight win
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday night; Dom Hyam strikes late to earn John Eustace's men narrow victory on Teesside
Wednesday 27 November 2024 23:01, UK
Dom Hyam's strike helped Blackburn pick up back-to-back Sky Bet Championship wins with a 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough.
An impressive return has seen Boro score 15 goals in their last three Championship fixtures, including six against Oxford at the weekend, but Wednesday's encounter at the Riverside proved to be a quieter affair with few chances for either side.
A scrappy first half saw the visitors have the best opportunity midway through when Ty Dolan's header flashed wide of the post.
Boro retained the ball well throughout the game, but it was Blackburn who took the lead 77 minutes in when Hyam guided the ball home from Todd Cantwell's cross to lift Rovers into eighth in the table.
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After a stop-start opening, Middlesbrough were handed an early blow when Riley McGree was forced off the pitch in the 20th minute moments after receiving treatment.
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Blackburn had the first effort in the 24th minute after some good play around the box saw Sondre Tronstad whip a cross into Dolan in the six yard area, where the winger flicked his header wide of a post.
Following a cagey period, George Edmundson forced former Boro goalkeeper Aynsley Pears into his first save of the evening with a low strike from the edge of the box.
Saturday's hat-trick hero Emmanuel Latte Lath had a bobbled effort easily taken by Pears and the forward had another brilliant chance, but his header flew well wide of an upright.
A late Blackburn attack on the cusp of half-time saw Sol Brynn push away a teasing cross from Harry Pickering and Callum Brittain had a shot blocked by his team-mate from the resulting loose ball.
Latte Lath threatened again at the start of the second half with two blocked shots before Neto Borges headed wide and Pears made two good saves from Dan Barlaser's menacing corners.
Rovers had a rare foray into the Boro box in the 64th minute, where Yuki Ohashi's tame header was easily taken and Tommy Conway got into a good position for the hosts, but his low shot was quickly cleared.
Cantwell had the ball in the net for Blackburn in the 72nd minute, but his effort was disallowed for offside and Middlesbrough had a good chance of their own moments later when Micah Hamilton blasted a wild strike over the crossbar.
Rovers found the breakthrough in the 77th minute after Owen Beck hit a backheel pass into Cantwell and the midfielder fired a low ball across the box for Hyam to stab home.
Ben Doak nearly provided an instant response for Boro when his powerful effort smashed off a post and the visitors defended well in the final stages to hold onto three points.
The managers
Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick:
"It's clearly offside, it's pretty obvious. The less said the better, really, from my point of view.
"We weren't at our best, we've ended up losing the game through a goal that's not a goal really.
"A point would've been a point, we had a few opportunities or half-chances.
"We just couldn't quite find that answer. It was going to come at some point, you're not going to keep scoring goals at the rate we've scored them and it shows some of the football we've played has been really good.
"This won't knock us too much, it's one of those games that happen. It could've been a draw, should've been a draw, is what it is."
Blackburn's John Eustace:
"Obviously very proud of the performance, first half we were really good with the ball, played some really good stuff.
"Unfortunately just lacked that little tiny bit of belief or being clinical enough in that final third.
"Second half we were always going to be under pressure, Middlesbrough are a fantastic team, they've scored a lot of goals of late.
"We knew they'd come out strong second half, so again we had to show a different side to us and show that we were really resilient, together and defended really well and scored a fantastic goal.
"You don't always get the rub of the green, but over the course of the 46 games it usually evens itself out and tonight we were probably fortunate, it was just offside, it looked like."
