Kim Hellberg needs a quick solution as Middlesbrough miss a huge opportunity in Charlton loss

The verdict as Middlesbrough were beaten 1-0 by Charlton Athletic at the Riverside

Middlesbrough’s home woes continued with familiar problems costly in a 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic.

Their third consecutive game at the Riverside without a win, Conor Coady’s second-half goal meant Boro missed a huge opportunity to open a sizeable gap on their promotion rivals Ipswich Town.

Just as was the case against Oxford United and Leicester City, the inability to find a goal against a low-block cost Boro. It presents a huge challenge for head coach Kim Hellberg, whose side can ill-afford to keep dropping points at home.

The Swede made two changes to his side after Sunday’s win at QPR. Dael Fry missed out through injury, while Alan Browne dropped to the bench, as Adilson Malanda and Tommy Conway were restored to the starting XI.

Boro knew coming in there was a big opportunity for them. On Tuesday evening, Ipswich conceded a 96th minute equaliser at Stoke City, offering Boro a chance to move further clear of the Tractor Boys.

But having not won either of their last two home games, Boro headed into this one expecting Charlton to come and shut up shop, and make life difficult for the hosts, just as Oxford and Leicester did before them.

Boro started brightly in the game, but the early signs that Charlton would show a bit more ambition than the prior two visitors. They showed early signs of looking a threat on the counter, and one in particular saw Charlie Kelman through one on one but denied by a big Sol Brynn save.

Increasingly though, as the first half wore on, and Boro continued to dominate and probe, Charlton dropped deeper and deeper in an attempt to restrict Boro’s space and halt their flow.

But Boro were creating chances and playing some nice stuff. Morgan Whittaker flashed one across goal and just wide of the far post, while Matt Targett sliced one wide as he arrived unmarked beyond the back post.

Aidan Morris enjoyed the best chance of the first half. A Tommy Conway cutback from wide fell to him just inside the area. The USA international smashed his shot goalbound, only to be denied by the fingertips of Addicks keeper Will Mannion, who pushed it onto his crossbar.

Interestingly, there was a penalty shout for Boro in the same attack. As the ball went across the box, Targett had arrived ahead of Morris and appeared to be tripped as he went to pull the trigger. There was nothing given.

With Boro probing, Charlton’s counters became rare. The last 15 minutes of the first half were played exclusively in the visitors’ half, but they were struggling for that all-important breakthrough.

In that time, Whittaker came closest when some one-touch football on the edge of the box saw the ball sit-up nicely for the forward to smash one goalwards from his typically favoured area. Mannion wasn’t set as a result of the pace of the play, but did just about enough to awkwardly get his body behind the shot and push it around his post.

The second half started much as the first ended, with Charlton sat deep and Boro searching for a way in. For much of the opening ten minutes after the restart, Brynn was the only player in the other half of the pitch.

With Boro struggling to find the answers, Hellberg turned to his bench on 57 minutes, swapping Whittaker and Strelec for Leo Castledine and Jeremy Sarmiento.

What already looked a difficult task became even harder when play restarted though. A long throw into the box from the visitors and Coady got across Targett to poke the ball home and put Charlton ahead.

Boro were growing increasingly frustrated as Charlton showed no sign of attacking intent after taking their lead. Castledine enjoyed his first chance roughly ten minutes after his introduction when he leapt well to meet a Morris cross. He couldn’t keep it down though, as it floated over.

Boro were throwing everything at it, but increasingly running out of ideas. Kaly Sene was on for the final 17 minutes as Hackney was just crowded out and saw on effort blocked and diverted behind for corner.

They kept trying. They threw everything at it. But they were struggling for ideas. It wasn’t Boro’s night. In the 89th minute, they had their opening. The ball dropped for Hackney, running onto it in the area. He fired in Mannion’s hands.

In the end, for a third home game running, they were thwarted by the low block in what proved a massive missed opportunity. They could have put distance between themselves and Ipswich. Millwall, who refuse to go away, are now just one point away.

They still sit in a fantastic position. They have a great chance to win promotion. But this low-block issue is a real problem that Hellberg must solve quickly, with nine games remaining. Five of those are home games, and you wouldn’t count on Boro facing anything but the same in all of them.

Click here to read article