Chris Wilder was relieved to see Middlesbrough win the Derby at home by a score of 1-0 against Sunderland. Riley Mcgree’s first-half win was enough to lift Borough out of the relegation zone.
Mcgree hit the target in the 25th minute by controlling a Ryan Giles shot and then driving past Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson. Borough started the game on the front leg, Patterson pushed a Johnny Howson free-kick over the near bar, and Mcgree sent the ball ricocheting off the crossbar a moment before scoring.
Sunderland struggled to create an obvious debut in the absence of Ross Stewart, who was injured in the warm-up. “Boro” looked more likely to score in the second half when Patterson saved Rodrigo Muniz and Duncan Watmore. In the end, Mcgree’s impact was enough for Borough to claim their second league win of the season.
“One of the things I really like and use it for players is that there is no image on the golf card”” Wilder said afterwards. “I’m not sure they really understand what I’m saying, maybe the smart people in our group, who are obviously few in number, but I say it unreasonably, that we have a lot.”
“It was really a competitive game, the chances were at both ends”” the Manager added. “The two goals for us tonight were clean and that gives you the opportunity to win. We have this blank sheet. Whatever we did, we just had to do it.
Sunderland’s new head coach, Tony Mowbray, acknowledged that Stewart’s late departure had baffled his pre-match plans. “We had to try to adjust everything we were working on for two or three days in a two-minute chat,” said the former Middlesbrough Manager.
“You’re asking the guys to forget almost everything we’ve just done for two days and go play another game”” Mowbray added after his side missed a chance to get back into the top six. “It shouldn’t be an excuse, it’s just a reality: losing your mascot who scores goals and who seems to be a real threat every game.”
Mowbray, who also lost defender Dennis chirkin to a hamstring injury in the second half, concluded: “It was a tense game. I thought we probably did enough not to lose him, and yet we did.
