Right, that’s it from me. Stick around on site for all the reports and reaction from the Riverside. Thanks for your company and emails. Cheerio!
So Arsenal hop above Everton into sixth and close to within seven points (with a game in hand) of fourth-placed Manchester City. It’s still a tall order for them but at least they keep their chances of a Champions League place alive.
For Boro things look bleak. They had plenty of spirit and were pretty well organised in the main but I’m struggling to remember a Premier League side so one-dimensional – punt into the box, nod down, hope for the best: that was the plan. And on this occasion it wasn’t enough, for all Arsenal’s defensive frailties.
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Full-time: Middlesbrough 1-2 Arsenal
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEP!!! A big win for Arsenal. Ugly as sin in the main but vital nevertheless.
90+4 min: Giroud sidefoots a clever volley just wide from distance. Arsenal have looked far more likely to add to their lead than concede an equaliser.
90+3 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain again breaks forward and this time slams his effort high into the side-netting.
90+2 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain does wonderfully down the right but Guzan charges out to block his shot.
90 min: Four minutes of added time to play.
90 min: Two changes for Arsenal: Sanchez and Ozil off, Coquelin and Bellerin on.
89 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain connects with only fresh air as Monreal’s deep cross finds him at the back post.
87 min: … another punt into the Arsenal box. Another utter failure by the defence to deal with it. Gibson should probably do better from close range as the ball drops but Cech is able to keep his effort out.
86 min: Sanchez is very harshly adjudged to have committed a foul while on all fours on the turf bring bashed about by two Boro players. Incoming …
85 min: “Re: 81 mins. I misread that as ‘hint of relegation’. Oh,” writes Russell Richardson.
84 min: The corner comes to nought.
83 min: “Calm down everyone,” Sanchez tells his team-mates while doing that pat-a-cake motion with his hands. “Calm down.” He immediately gives the ball away. Boro break. And Traore wins a corner.
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82 min: Ozil, Sanchez and Giroud break three-on-three against the Boro defence. One of that trio curled an optimistic effort well wide from the edge of the box. I’ll let you make up your own mind who it was.
81 min: There’s just a hint of resignation about Boro now.
79 min: Negredo hooks a first-time effort at goal from the edge of the box but Cech drops comfortably on the ball.
78 min: Gestede replaces De Roon for Boro.
77 min: Arsenal play a little keep-ball in their own half.
75 min: The Boro fans who tempted fate with their “YOU’RE NOT SINGING ANY MORE” chants are now being taunted with the same by Arsenal fans, who have just had clear demonstration of the fact that the Football Gods take a very dim view of that sort of thing.
73 min: … Downing whips in, Giroud nods clear.
72 min: Monreal chops down Traore on the right …
GOAL! Middlesbrough 1-2 Arsenal (Ozil 71)
Far too easy for Arsenal this. Their defence gets enough criticism so it’s only fair to point out that Boro’s backline were all over the place here. Sanchez chips the ball in, Ramsey chests down, Ozil thumps home at the near post.
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70 min: Traore is immediately in the heart of the action, trapping a dropping ball brilliantly on the touchline before rampaging through the Arsenal defence. He hesitates just as he needs to be decisive and ends up failing to get a shot away but that was a sign of intent.
69 min: Boro make their second change: Traore replaces Ramirez.
68 min: It’s all Arsenal now. Ozil pings an effort yards wide from distance but the Gunners are on top at the moment.
66 min: Steady on Philippe!
Some of these Arsenal players deserve the tumble-dryer treatment. Hairdryer far too soft for them. Their body language is dreadful.
— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) April 17, 2017
65 min: This game has briefly become an end-to-end madcap affair.
64 min: Brilliant work from Guzan to deny Ozil as Sanchez’s gorgeous pass splits the Boro defence open. The keeper is out quickly and Ozil can’t quite dink the ball past him.
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62 min: An Arsenal corner is cleared to the feet of Ramirez who, turns and sees nothing but 70 yards of green space between himself and the Arsenal goal. That space is quickly filled by Oxlade-Chamberlain, though, and the attack fizzles out almost as soon as it had started.
61 min: What a chance! Somehow Cech and co keep Ayala’s close range header out as another long free-kick into the Arsenal box causes all manner of consternation. Friend’s header back across the six yard box was met by his defensive colleague but he planted his header too close to the keeper. Arsenal survive, just.
59 min: That familiar frazzled air has descended over Arsenal. The straightforward is suddenly seeming quite a challenge.
57 min: … it ends with a bit of a scramble as Xhaka fires the ball back into the box but Boro just about manage to clear.
56 min: Sanchez goes down under a clomping challenge from Barragan to give Arsenal a free-kick on the left-corner of the box …
55 min: Friend charges forward and past Gabriel far too easily. His cross is spooned up into the air by Monreal and when it drops Downing spanks the ball miles over the bar from little more than 10 yards out.
54 min: “YOU’RE NOT SINGING ANY MORE!” cheer the Boro fans, which always strikes me as the most fate-tempting of football chants.
52 min: As you’d imagine, that goal has got the Riverside rocking again.
GOAL! Middlesbrough 1-1 Arsenal (Negredo 50)
Downing is given the freedom of the Riverside and romps forward down the right. He cuts inside and whips in a wonderful cross to find Negredo, ghosting between the centre halves. The Spaniard volleys home and we’re all square!
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48 min: Which is nodded wide by a combination of Ayala and De Roon.
47 min: Downing skips down the right, past Monreal and Xhaka, and wins a corner.
46 min: Friend slips just as he set up to send a cross in from the left.
Peep! We go again.
Looking at the replays I may have been a bit harsh on Guzan for the Arsenal goal. There were seven Boro players in the wall, plus two Arsenal players stood in front of it, blocking the keeper’s view. He couldn’t have seen the ball until it was too late.
… I’m waiting to see what happens just like you. If I knew what was coming next I’d use them for more exciting moments than “scuffed free-kick into the wall”.
Half-time email dept.
“When you use ellipsis, do you already know what happens or are you in suspense like the rest of us?” writes Zach Neeley. “I always feel impending doom.”
Well Zach …
Peep! Peep!! Half-time. Pretty even stuff, really. Boro aren’t out of it by any means but Arsenal have the lead.
45 min: Two minutes of added time to be played.
44 min: … the complete opposite of the Sanchez free-kick: scuffed miserably into the wall by Leadbitter.
43 min: It was curling away from the keeper and well struck but it wasn’t exactly a “postage stamp” job. I want to see that again to see if the keeper could have done better, but Boro have their own free-kick on the edge of the Arsenal box …
GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-1 Arsenal (Sanchez 42)
… and whipped past Guzan beautifully by Sanchez.
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40 min: … punched away by Guzan but picked up by Ramsey on the edge of the box, who squares to Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder is flattened by Clayton. Another Arsenal free-kick. Central this time. Edge of the D …
39 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain draws a foul from De Roon on the right edge of the Boro box. Dangerous free-kick this. …
38 min: … well, it’s actually rolled right for Barragan to send the ball high into the box. Arsenal’s central defenders deal with it well, though.
37 min: Ramsey goes into a little wildly on Clayton. Another Boro free-kick on the edge of the centre circle. No prizes for guessing what is next …
35 min: Arsenal do look flaky when Boro attack. A couple of crosses are flung into the Gunners’ box but they can’t find their target.
34 min: A brilliant tackle – I think by Barragan – on the six-yard line denies Sanchez a tap-in after Oxlade-Chamberlain again finds space for a cross. He seems to be enjoying himself at wing-back.
32 min: Xhaka fouls Negredo right in the middle of the Arsenal half. Another free-kick comes booming into the Arsenal box but Ayala can only direct his header behind for a goal kick.
31 min: Middlesbrough work the ball beautifully down the right – helped by some lacklustre tracking back in the Arsenal midfield – but Ramirez’s cross is dreadful.
30 min: … this one drops to Sanchez beyond the back post. It’s an awkward one but he manages to get a volley at goal. It’s easy for Guzan, though.
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29 min: … and another …
28 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain gets the better of Friend and finds Giroud at the back post. His nod back finds Ramsey but his volley is met by a Middlesbrough player in the six-yard box. Arsenal corner …
27 min: Yet another free-kick on halfway, yet another punt into the Arsenal box. This time it’s overhit by Leadbitter and out for a goal kick, but I think that’s the fourth free-kick around halfway that Boro have had and the first time they’ve not managed to work some sort of effort at goal out of it.
26 min: … Koscielny nodded clear but only as far as Clayton, who cushioned the ball to Leadbitter, who clanked it yards wide from the edge of the area.
25 min: Another free-kick just inside the Arsenal half. Another chance for Boro to stick it in The Mixer …
23 min: Boro have the ball in the net but De Roon is offside. Barragan pumped a free-kick into the box, Arsenal could not clear and when Ramirez popped the ball back in De Roon was unmarked at the back post. But he was unmarked because he was a couple of yards offside, so his header past Cech was for nought.
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22 min: Barragan does well to draw a foul from Sanchez as the Chilean chases a ball down the left channel.
20 min: Better have grown into this a little now. Xhaka and Ramsey seeing plenty of the ball.
19 min: Ayala and Giroud tangled in the box from that set-piece. Nobody made too much of it but you can file under You’ve Seen Them Given.
18 min: George Friend replaces the stricken Fabio for Boro. And he does just enough to prevent Gabriel getting a clearer header on goal from the corner.
17 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain gets down the right and fizzes in a cross. Gibson meets it and nods behind for an Arsenal corner.
15 min: “Shouldn’t new formations be sponsored?” wonders Ian Copestake. “’These changes brought to you by BETCedric. When your past has been this good what have you got to lose?’” Surely three at the back should be sponsored by:
14 min: It’s fair to say Arsenal’s 3-4-3 formation hasn’t been an instant success but they’re having a slightly better spell now. An injury to Fabio brings a pause to proceedings.
12 min: Negredo shoots from fully 50 yards. It is, predictably, well off target.
11 min: Negredo sees his shot blocked on the edge of the box but Arsenal can’t get out at the moment.
10 min: Gabriel’s backpass is a bit strong and there’s a hint of panic about Cech’s clearance as the ball trundles towards the goal. Boro build another attack from the throw-in. They’ve been much the stronger team in this opening 10 minutes.
9 min: The Boro captain seems to be OK to continue, for the moment at least. Meanwhile, Ramirez skips past a couple of Arsenal players in midfield but the ball runs away from him as he approaches the area.
8 min: Leadbitter launches dangerously himself at Ozil and picks up the game’s second booking. And the Boro midfielder looks to have picked up an injury to go with it.
7 min: There’s an excellent atmosphere inside the Riverside thus far. The home fans are up for this. And, to be fair, so are the travelling contingent by the sounds of it.
6 min: Guzan is out smartly to deal with Giroud’s flick-on, with Ozil and Sanchez closing in fast.
5 min: The free-kick is taken short, Leadbitter trundles forward utterly unmolested and pings a shot just wide from 30-odd yards. A bit slack from Arsenal, that.
4 min: Fabio clips the ball past right-wing-back Oxlade-Chamberlain, who trips the former Manchester United player. He gets a very early yellow card.
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3 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain swings in a cross from the edge of the box but Giroud is adjudged to have fouled Ayala in the process of winning the header in the area.
2 min: Pass, pass, pass from Arsenal early on, but Boro then snap into a tackle and a Riverside roar goes up as Ramirez sweeps forward. His pass is a poor one though.
1 min: First things first: it is a back three for Arsenal. Gabriel on the right, Holding on the left.
Peep! Off we go then. The visitors get us under way.
“Am I being a dumbass,” writes Stephen, “but how is a team with 4 defenders (Koz, Holding, Monreal, Gabriel) playing 3 at the back? Or is this merely formalising Monreal’s more attacking play? If we are playing 3 at the back the timing is pure Arsenal: just as Conte’s 3-at-the-back Chelsea start a losing streak. If you can’t beat them...”
Well, all the pre-match indications suggested it was wing-backs for the Gunners. We’re about to find out, either way …
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Click-clack, click-clack … the players emerge from the tunnel, Boro in red and white, Arsenal in their yellow and grey change strip.
Here’s a bit of pre-match Steve Agnew: “It’s obvious to everyone we need to win the game. I’ve set up with a back four and attacking players in the starting XI.”
“We’ve got to try and exploit any weaknesses but Arsenal are a very, very good team. We’ll have to be at their very best.”
He always comes across rather well, someone you could enjoy a pint with.
Fair point …
.@John_Ashdown Best of luck to Boro, but yesterday's "experimental" ManU didn't work out too badly.
— Ron Stack (@ronstack) April 17, 2017
So what do we make of that Arsenal team then? A bold statement of intent? Or one last throw of the dice from Wenger?
Boro still have Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City to play after this evening – they are surely going to need to pick up a few points from those games. I wonder if this experimental Arsenal XI might give them a little extra hope of getting something this evening …
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And those teams in non-Twitter format:
Boro: Guzan, Barragan, Ayala, Gibson, Fabio, Clayton, De Roon, Leadbitter, Ramirez, Downing, Negredo. Subs: Dimi, Friend, Bernardo, Forshaw, Traore, Bamford, Gestede.
Arsenal: Cech; Holding, Koscielny, Gabriel; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Monreal; Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud. Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Gibbs, Coquelin, Elneny, Walcott, Iwobi.
So Arsenal make six changes and it looks like it’s three at the back for the Gunners for the first time since 1997. “Recently we lost a lot of direct fights centrally. So it will get us a bit stronger in the air,” said Wenger when he was asked about his new formation just now on Sky.
Tonight's teams
Here's how #Boro will line up to face @Arsenal this evening #UTB pic.twitter.com/h0Djbdxmzy
— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) April 17, 2017
Time for our team news - this is how we line up for #MFCvAFC pic.twitter.com/7cZ9eHxeTM
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 17, 2017
Preamble
Hello everyone. First of all, and not to get off on the wrong foot, but you lot should be ashamed of yourselves, you heartless rubberneckers you. Can’t you just leave them in peace? These two teams have enough problems without being subjected to your morbid curiosity. Two teams enduring car-crash seasons (if you ignore clubs like Leyton Orient, Blackpool and Nottingham Forest who have real problems) meet at the Riverside this Monday evening in search of three vital points and for the losers things will begin to look very bleak indeed.
Arsenal have picked up just seven points from their last eight games, a tally of which Boro can only dream – they’ve collected just three points in the same period. Over the past two and a half months – going back to 31 January – the Gunners have the 16th best points-per-game average in the Premier League. Fortunately for Arsène Wenger, this evening they’re playing one of the four teams in the division who have been worse.
No one at Arsenal will be under any illusion that a win tonight will do much to solve the problems currently afflicting the club but it would at least keep the hysteria at bay for a few days.
Boro haven’t won since 17 December but somehow a win tonight would drag them to within three points of safety with a game in hand over 17th-placed Hull.
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