A tie that had threatened to turn into a grim case-study highlighting the compelling need for a winter break burst, belatedly, into dramatic life.
If goals from Grant Leadbitter, Alvaro Negredo and Marten de Roon offered insufficient excitement, there was also controversy with Middlesbrough’s Dani Ayala sent off for a perceived professional foul on Fernando Forestieri as Aitor Karanka’s side headed towards the fourth round.
“In the first half we didn’t have the right mentality and I was angry at half-time,” said Boro’s manager, who left Rudy Gestede, newly signed from Aston Villa for £6m, on the bench alongside Jordan Rhodes and is ready to sell David Nugent to Derby County for £3m. “But in the second half we showed the right attitude.”
With his Boro side desperate to avoid relegation from the Premier League and promotion‑hungry Wednesday anxious to finally escape the Championship, it represented something of a phoney war with Karanka and Carlos Carvalhal emphasising that their priorities lay elsewhere by making five and six changes respectively.
An ominously low tone was set when, unmarked and under minimal pressure, Adama Traoré swiftly passed to the feet of Wednesday’s Daniel Pudil. Admittedly Traoré subsequently compensated for that slapdash lapse by creating some space out of nothing and whipping in a fine cross from which Negredo would have surely given Boro the lead had he been concentrating, but that cameo proved to be a rare early highlight.
Indeed as hard as Adam Reach, once a Boro player, worked down Wednesday’s flanks and willing as George Friend was to overlap from the left-back for Karanka’s side, the principal first-half talking point was the visitors’ fluorescent orange shorts, nattily accessorised by matching, bonfire-bright hooped socks.
It will have been no surprise if the strained eyes of the spectators strayed to the electronic perimeter hoardings which kept issuing reminders that Emirates flies to six continents. Such advertising was perhaps timely as back out on the pitch, Boro, particularly, bore the leaden look of a team in urgent need of a spot of winter sun.
Calum McManaman’s second-half introduction produced a slight sea-change, with the newcomer ruffling Boro courtesy of some menacing counter-attacking runs.
Almost imperceptibly things livened up and, soon, a goal arrived – albeit from a set piece. After Barry Bannan was booked for hackingdown De Roon around 20 yards out Leadbitter reinforced his reputation as a dead-ball specialist by bending the free-kick exquisitely round the wall and low into the bottom corner, right footed.
The celebrations had barely subsided when Ayala was shown a red card for body-checking Forestieri as the forward accelerated towards goal.
That blatant challenge definitely warranted a booking but could hardly be said to denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity as Forestieri was about 25 yards out and two defenders were in the vicinity. David Coote, the referee, presumably thought the Spaniard was the last man. “The sending off was a surprise for everybody,” said Karanka whose side, paradoxically, improved radically with 10 men.
Joe Wildsmith, Wednesday’s reserve goalkeeper, promptly assuaged Teesside anxieties by fluffing what should have been a routine clearance and allowing Negredo to score. Although Wildsmith seemed to have adequate time the striker charged him down and the attempted clearance ricocheted off Negredo and flew into the back of the net from close range.
Poor Wildsmith – who had been cruelly mocked by Teessiders since enjoying an early reprieve when he weakly punched a Leadbitter free-kick straight at Ayala only for the defender to miss a splendid chance – was rapidly beaten again but Cristhian Stuani’s effort was correctly disallowed for offside. Undeterred, Stuani set up De Roon to stylishly sweep the stoppage-time third home.
“We tried everything on the break and the game was evenly balanced for a long time,” Carvalhal said. “But we knew it would be very tough if Middlesbrough scored first.”
