By Come On Boro.com
October 20 2005

So here we are for the second consecutive year of UEFA group stages, this time on the back of uncertainty over the future tournament after Xavier’s suspension. Tonight Boro have to prove that adversity will not affect overall performance and show a confident side that believe themselves to be group leaders once again.

We don’t want to upset our chairman any further, we know now after the Legends phone-in tonight that he goes home to kick the dog if Boro lose. But Mendieta on the right, Nemeth on the left, Franck on the bench?? Odd. Hope this poor old imaginary dog will be ok …

So, fingers crossed that our defence are as solid as they should be on paper – even though this is Switzerland, Grasshoppers should not be regarded as a pushover. The start of the group stage is very important for confidence.

There was an early foul on Viduka, and Mendi and Jimmy were both looking keen to scoop up any chances. Not as keen as the Boro fans though, all 700 of them outsinging the whole of Zurich. Positive vibes all round set the adrenalin flowing.

Mendi’s free kick brought Fabio Coltorti’s first stretch of the evening, giving warning of what was to come for Boro. George Boateng was around to keep scooping the ball towards the front however, and it really seemed that we may see the return of New Boro. After 5 minutes the Grasshoppers had hardly had a kick.

Viduka shot on target only to have it pushed away for a corner. Immediately after that Boro were awarded a free kick after a foul on Jimmy. Southgate took it, but it was fairly ineffective, however Doriva got through on the break, bounded forward, a perfect pass to Jimmy who buried it from 14 yards.

Grasshoppers 0 Middlesbrough 1 (Hasselbaink 10)

The greatest worry was that we would now sit on the lead, however the Boro fans were still in constant voice and with any luck they wouldn’t let this happen.

Jimmy was on fire and well up for it and crossed to Nemeth who almost made it 2, but unfortunately it was totally fluffed, missing a golden opportunity. Oh well, plenty of time yet.

Grasshoppers tried a bit of a fight back but were thwarted, Antonio took a free kick, Rogerio made a half-hearted attempt that was never in danger of getting near the net. But a couple of minutes later hair was stood on end as Rogerio made the break, hoofed it across to Eduardo who found the back of the Boro net after eluding Schwarzer. Thankfully it was offside, to the total disgust of the home fans who went berserk, but there would be no equaliser just yet.

Nemeth then just missed another sitter, at least he was being consistent tonight. Mendi was on form, and Boro were still controlling the tempo. Pogo and George were put under a bit of pressure but held on. There was some evidence of sitting back but not as much as usual to be honest. Nerves were running high as it was clear that Boro were now definitely playing deep, with Jimmy and Vids hanging around the half way line. Grasshoppers had that dangerous vibe to them, and no-one would have been surprised if they started flying down the pitch to turn the score-line upside down. Our defence were doing alright, Riggot and Southgate especially, apart from a couple of blips, which caused The Boss to scream from the sidelines, so much that he could be heard over the songs of the Boro faithful.

Grasshoppers then missed a sitter on 42 mins, and Schwarzer despatched the goal kick swiftly, Dos Santos and Sutter both attempting to break through our barricades. Viduka found the ball and showed superb contorl and was unlucky not to hammer the second one home. Nemeth, who was at least putting in some effort, then fell over his own studs, and once again the tempo was interrupted.

No extra time whatsoever was added on – maybe 10 secs - and we were plunged into half-time to regroup and pray that there would be no reprieve for Grasshoppers.

Half Time fan reaction:

Great start, the goal we wanted, then same old, same old for the rest of the half. Murphy Smoggie

One away goal to start, not too shabby, I really think we can hold on here Dave Boro

Second Half

No changes were made at half time, and as predicted the home side hit the ground running. The crowd were very quiet at first, maybe the Boro lads were still queuing for Swiss pies.

Early on Cabanas took advantage of a defensive error by Riggot to shoot, but Schwarzer sent it to safety. “Steve Mclarens Red Army” was ringing out over the ground, which stirred Eduardo to go towards the goal but again this wasn’t going anywhere, George managed to steer it back in the right direction. There was some good passing from Doriva with most of the Grasshoppers in the Boro half and Riggot won a free kick. We were still looking defensive though, and at 53 minutes, Steve Harrison was getting audibly agitated - could we be looking to keep pushing forward?

Eduardo missed a left-hand side cross from Antonio, which was headed wide from close range. Our luck was holding out. Until Doriva missed one more sitter, slicing it across the goalmouth from a Mendi assist, now that definitely should have been 2 as Viduka was in position to mop up any rebound .

It was looking like a fairly good-natured game so far, no yellow cards, no injuries after 65 mins. Oh. Then Pogotetz retaliated and made that 1-0 Boro on yellow cards. Nemeth then got booked for dawdling off the pitch after a substitution – how bizarre, didn’t look intentional, maybe he was tired?

Anyway, Morrison then came on to assist Parnaby, bringing much needed fresh legs. Eduardo shot once more, but Riggot cleared it, our defence no doubt having saved many potential disasters from the home team desperate to seal their mark on this game.

Then it was Jimmy’s turn for an offside goal on 71 mins. Everyone was getting a bit edgy and you could feel another goal hanging in the air. For a while it looked like this would be to our detriment, with Eduardo banging on target once more. Still the gods were smiling on Boro. Then Schwarzer defied Rogerio with a superb save, and the home side failed to capitalise on the subsequent corner.

As the Grasshoppers were relentless, Franck came on for Mendi, who had earned his hot bath and cocoa tonight. Was Franck coming on as defence or midfield? What would we do, stay deep or really go for this second goal? All became clear when theYak took his tracksuit top off – we were going to go for it!

In the last 10 mins, Grasshoppers made a couple of changes, and Franck carelessly lost the ball, putting Boro in danger. With the immediate threat out of the way hopefully the pressure would provide the necessary amount of adrenalin to hang on and not make the team self-destruct. Grasshoppers fans started to head for the exits - maybe they had confidence in Boro.

As the 90 min mark passed, there was no let up from either team. Three mins were added on, which co-incidentally was exactly the amount of time it took Nemeth to walk off the pitch earlier. And although Rogerio made a valiant effort to squeeze a point from the game, the Boro players, along with the fans, were no match for the Swiss side and we finished our first group game victorious in Switzerland. And Steve Gibson’s dog is safe.

Fan Reaction

3 points to start the group with is Magnificent!
Paddy

TEAMS:
Grasshoppers: Coltorti; Stepanovs, Mitreski, Jaggy, Chihab, Cabanas, Dos Santos, Renggli (Salatic 87), Rogerio, Eduardo, Sutter. Unused subs: Jehle (gk); Schwegler, Hurlimann, Denicola, Toure, Lutolf.
Middlesbrough: Schwarzer; Parnaby, Riggott, Southgate (Capt), Pogatetz, Mendieta (Queudrue 78), Boateng, Doriva, Nemeth (Morrison 66), Viduka (Yakubu 85), Hasselbaink. Unused subs: Jones (gk); Bates, Maccarone, A Johnson.