McBain
Player Valuation: £80m
Middlesbrough 0 – 2 Everton (Deulofeu 20, Lukaku 28)
We headed to the Riverside on the back of another Jekyll and Hyde display, which, while not a loss is still points dropped. Still not the finished article then obviously, and interesting to see how we'd line up for a Quarter Final at the Riverside.
No real shocks from Roberto. Joel between the sticks, Mori, Stones, Coleman and Galloway continue at the back. Kone drops to the bench and McCarthy is out?, Osman and Cleverley come into the mix. Barkley, Lukaku and Deulofeu retain their spots on the dance-floor.
It's an even stevens start, Boro with a confidence to their game, playing at home and using that confidence without any real threat. Funes Feet finding themselves under pressure early and acquitting themselves even earlier. Two sides sounding each other out like a couple of strays sniffing each other bottoms for the first fifteen. We're sensing some heat.
Downing sizes up a dead ball and tests Joel, and then with a shimmy of the hips, Delu finds himself skipping into the Boro defence and with half a yard at the top of the box, spanks it firmly into Boro's Bag. Doesn't even have to look. Just Dispatches. Kneeslides.
One Nil up and we can start to strut. Eight minutes later and it's Two, some classic interplay from the Blues providing old twinkle toes to Feed the Luk with a sweet header into the far side-netting. Sublime. Text Book Step Over 101 from the Spaniard. Exactly the right amount to bamboozle Amorebieta and wedge up a peach hot off the byline for Lukaku to dispatch. High Fives and Hugs.
Nil – Two to the Blues. Barkley seems slightly off, big night scudding off The Empire on Battlefront maybe, but the team is playing some lovely passing stuff at times. We're cutting shapes while Boro Heel and Toe and Docey Don't. We bringing the Angus up in here while Boro tossing Salad.
Joel is tested again and again the ball sticks. Boro start generating some wind but ultimately it's toothless and we marshall them to the break without the usual right on half time punch in the kidneys. They'll have to do us in the second, then.
The whole second half is pretty forgettable Praise Dixie. Speed skimming it, Stones over extends his Five-a-Side touch and gets clobbered but he's back up like Viagra. It would like playing Stretch Armstrong. Downing stings Joel's gloves and Joel's Gloves decide to put in for some time off after all this hard work. They make contact with Tim's Gloves at half time and are like 'uh huh'. Stuane gets a free head and once again Joel's Gloves cash the cheque. I reckon Joel needs an angrier haircut. Delu cops a forearm to the grid and rolls around faster than a Croc with a Kiwi tourist in the Kimberley. Whoever plays Delu in Everton The Motion Picture better bring their A Game. Ryan Gosling as Gerard Deulofeu.
There's wall to wall Booing from the Boro faithful who take offence to Ryan's take on the character. Haterz.
Baines is on for Galloway at this point, and it's good to see the Slick Bangs, Steely Focus and Epic Calves back in blue. Galloway looks like all the air's just exploded out of his new tires in the form a Baines sized hole. He should, are we seeing the last of him for a little while? He's done well, couple of boo-boo's but hopefully can get back into the side and take it to the next level. Baines gets booked straight away for being out so long it annoyed Roger the Referee and Gosling shoots his final scene and is replaced by Mirallas to try to get a third and reignite his own flagging career. Not to be, a touch of the Ryan Reynolds about Mirallas at the moment. Box Office poison. Going the way of the Geads.
Stones is booked, and whoever is cooking the Snags in the stands is causing smoke to drift about the pitch. Get yourself a Weber, You Clown. Now we all want some. Four minutes of extra time, beforehandwhich Lukaku goes off and Naismith gets the nod.
A little bit of huff and puff and none of the drama of the weekend thank you very much. Full Time.
Onwards and upwards and bigger tests to follow, but we are still in the mix, played some benchies into the team, and got a clean sheet at probably the Countries in-form home ground.
Onto Semi Finals and it's getting starting to get real. Good win you Blues.
McB
We headed to the Riverside on the back of another Jekyll and Hyde display, which, while not a loss is still points dropped. Still not the finished article then obviously, and interesting to see how we'd line up for a Quarter Final at the Riverside.
No real shocks from Roberto. Joel between the sticks, Mori, Stones, Coleman and Galloway continue at the back. Kone drops to the bench and McCarthy is out?, Osman and Cleverley come into the mix. Barkley, Lukaku and Deulofeu retain their spots on the dance-floor.
It's an even stevens start, Boro with a confidence to their game, playing at home and using that confidence without any real threat. Funes Feet finding themselves under pressure early and acquitting themselves even earlier. Two sides sounding each other out like a couple of strays sniffing each other bottoms for the first fifteen. We're sensing some heat.
Downing sizes up a dead ball and tests Joel, and then with a shimmy of the hips, Delu finds himself skipping into the Boro defence and with half a yard at the top of the box, spanks it firmly into Boro's Bag. Doesn't even have to look. Just Dispatches. Kneeslides.
One Nil up and we can start to strut. Eight minutes later and it's Two, some classic interplay from the Blues providing old twinkle toes to Feed the Luk with a sweet header into the far side-netting. Sublime. Text Book Step Over 101 from the Spaniard. Exactly the right amount to bamboozle Amorebieta and wedge up a peach hot off the byline for Lukaku to dispatch. High Fives and Hugs.
Nil – Two to the Blues. Barkley seems slightly off, big night scudding off The Empire on Battlefront maybe, but the team is playing some lovely passing stuff at times. We're cutting shapes while Boro Heel and Toe and Docey Don't. We bringing the Angus up in here while Boro tossing Salad.
Joel is tested again and again the ball sticks. Boro start generating some wind but ultimately it's toothless and we marshall them to the break without the usual right on half time punch in the kidneys. They'll have to do us in the second, then.
The whole second half is pretty forgettable Praise Dixie. Speed skimming it, Stones over extends his Five-a-Side touch and gets clobbered but he's back up like Viagra. It would like playing Stretch Armstrong. Downing stings Joel's gloves and Joel's Gloves decide to put in for some time off after all this hard work. They make contact with Tim's Gloves at half time and are like 'uh huh'. Stuane gets a free head and once again Joel's Gloves cash the cheque. I reckon Joel needs an angrier haircut. Delu cops a forearm to the grid and rolls around faster than a Croc with a Kiwi tourist in the Kimberley. Whoever plays Delu in Everton The Motion Picture better bring their A Game. Ryan Gosling as Gerard Deulofeu.
There's wall to wall Booing from the Boro faithful who take offence to Ryan's take on the character. Haterz.
Baines is on for Galloway at this point, and it's good to see the Slick Bangs, Steely Focus and Epic Calves back in blue. Galloway looks like all the air's just exploded out of his new tires in the form a Baines sized hole. He should, are we seeing the last of him for a little while? He's done well, couple of boo-boo's but hopefully can get back into the side and take it to the next level. Baines gets booked straight away for being out so long it annoyed Roger the Referee and Gosling shoots his final scene and is replaced by Mirallas to try to get a third and reignite his own flagging career. Not to be, a touch of the Ryan Reynolds about Mirallas at the moment. Box Office poison. Going the way of the Geads.
Stones is booked, and whoever is cooking the Snags in the stands is causing smoke to drift about the pitch. Get yourself a Weber, You Clown. Now we all want some. Four minutes of extra time, beforehandwhich Lukaku goes off and Naismith gets the nod.
A little bit of huff and puff and none of the drama of the weekend thank you very much. Full Time.
Onwards and upwards and bigger tests to follow, but we are still in the mix, played some benchies into the team, and got a clean sheet at probably the Countries in-form home ground.
Onto Semi Finals and it's getting starting to get real. Good win you Blues.
McB
