|
Boro got off to the worst possible start when Jason Euell headed home a free-kick after just four minutes. The ball seemed to glance off Ugo Ehiogu’s head, which caused it to spin past the finger tips of Mark Schwarzer into the top corner.
Boro found it difficult to get back into the game and were not making their possession count, with several stray passes annoying Steve McClaren, who made his feelings felt from the touchline.
Charlton were worth their lead at half-time and could have been further ahead if they had converted their chances. Boro failed to seriously threaten Dean Kiely in the Charlton goal.
A double save from Schwarzer and Ehiogu early in the second half saved the blushes of Franck Queedrue early in the second half after the Frenchman had been caught ball watching on the left.
McClaren made a triple change 15 minutes into the half replacing Massimo Maccarone, Szilard Nemeth and robbie Stockdale with Noel Whelan, Carlos Marinelli and Colin Cooper respectively.
The change encouraged Boro but they still failed to cut open a solid Charlton defence. Jonathan Greening brought a brilliant save out of Kiely, who parried a 20-yard drive onto the post.
A disappointing result for Boro who dropped to fifth in the table, when the chance to consolidate in third place was the reward for a victory. Boro never really started playing and were poor in the final third.
But for the early goal this could easily have been the fourth 0-0 scoreline in a row between the two sides.