Middlesbrough played out a 0-0 draw against Stoke at the Riverside Stadium in a top of Sky Bet Championship clash.
A closely-fought clash saw very few stand-out chances of note other than Boro’s Sol Brynn spill his 79th-minute save of Tomas Rigo’s shot, but he regathered possession from Alfie Jones’ follow-up touch.
Middlesbrough remain top of the table with their four-point lead intact as Stoke moved up to second after Bristol City, Leicester and Preston all blew leads elsewhere to eventually draw their matches.
Separated by four points at kick-off, there was a disappointingly stop-start opening quarter-of-a-hour due to an injury to Boro’s George Edmundson, whilst Hayden Hackney and David Strelec saw shots saved by Viktor Johansson.
Middlesbrough continued to enjoy the better first-half opportunities during which Tommy Conway was fouled in the 32nd minute, only for referee – David Webb to book him for simulation instead much to the home crowd’s annoyance.
Boro’s dominance nearly got its reward in the 39th minute after a low cross wasn’t cleared inside the box and fell for Conway. who teed up Sverre Nypan but the Norwegian blazed his left-footed shot over the bar.
Stoke however upped their intensity immediately in the second half as Sorba Thomas forced a save from Sol Brynn just over a minute into the restart.
Aidan Morris then rifled Hackney’s pass over the bar in the 48th minute whilst Stoke substitute – Million Manhoef fired wide seconds later in a pulsating start to the second half.
Neither team managed to find a clinical final touch as Strelec and Stoke substitute, Rigo fired wide, whilst Boro’s Sontje put a 69th-minute cross wide across goal.
Brynn’s blushes were spared in the 79th minute as he spilled his save of Rigo’s shot only for Jones to flick the ball back into his palms, before he then saved Rigo’s next shot a minute later in a frantic end-to-end phase of the match.
Despite a late wave of chances for Middlesbrough, Stoke dug in defensively to cling on for a deserved draw.
What’s Next?
Ahead of October’s international break, Middlesbrough head to Portsmouth on Saturday 4 October at 3pm BST.
Stoke meanwhile visit Blackburn on the same date at the earlier time of 12:30pm at Ewood Park.
Teams
Middlesbrough: Sol Brynn, Luke Ayling, George Edmundson (Silvera 7′), Alfie Jones, Matt Targett, Aidan Morris (Hansen 65′), Alan Browne, Hayden Hackney, Sverre Nypan (Fry 82′), David Strelec (Sene 65′), Tommy Conway (Kante 82′)
Substitutes: Alex Bangura, Delano Burgzorg, Dael Fry, Sontje Hansen, Jon McLaughlin, Abdoulaye Kante, Samuel Silvera, Kaly Sene, Morgan Whittaker
Stoke: Viktor Johansson, Ashley Phillips, Ben Wilmot, Bosun Lawal (Tchamadeu 77′), Eric Bocat, Ben Pearson (Rigo 46′), Tatsuki Seko, Lamine Cisse (Manhoef 46′), Bae Jun-Ho, Sorba Thomas, Robert Bozenik (Mubama 74′)
Substitutes: Jack Bonham, Aaron Cresswell, Jamie Donley, Million Manhoef, Divin Mubama, Steven Nzonzi, Tomas Rigo, Maksym Talovierov, Junior Tchamadeu
Referee – David Webb,
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