Ipswich v Boro,

0-1

Bent game, never pen

I agree with the ref

Doesn't matter that the striker was never going to get the ball.  All that matters is the ball was in play (I think)

That would be overturned by var in my opinion. Supporters  dislike var but boro supporters must be wishing it was used in the championship.

That's never getting overturned.

You aren't a Boro supporter then.

It's soft and plenty of similar fouls don't get given, but it was a foul, so it's never getting overturned.  The defender had his left arm grabbing hold of Hirst's waist and his right hand grabbing the right arm.  Both hands grabbing at the same time, and that's why the pen was given.  Idiotic defending as Hirst was never getting the ball.

Ar5ole lucky,Ipswich, to get that.

Hirst dived. I knew his Dad, David. Great lad but not averse to a bit of ref arm twisting at Hillsborough.
Doesn't it ever occur to refs that at 2.1 down with 2 mins left a few players may be looking for penalties? How thick  are they?

He was fouled clearly, had he been able to reach the ball the foul would have impeded his chances of scoring.  He probably didn't need to go to ground but that was incidental

If I've got both my hands grabbing you, you aren't going to fall, but it's still a foul

Well done ref.  A brave and correct decision.  Where I would agree is I suspect 3 times out of 4 it isn't given.  (because the ref didn't see it clearly enough or lacked the bottle to give it).  The ref in this case had a perfect view and had the bottle to give it.

If a defender wants to grab hold of a forward who is trying to get to a ball in the 6 yard area then he runs a very high risk of conceding a penalty.

2 mins later same thing happen middle of pitch, play on!! Fooking bent as, end of.

premier LG reff give that pen,premier LG top reff it city game doesn't give a free kick outside box when haaland ha the ball and Gabriel literally rip the under hurt off hi back ,in a 20 sec shirt pulling contest

Have to say (Sunday aside as I thought a draw a fair result) Middlesboro have been incredibly unlucky in their previous fixtures.  In their previous 6 fixtures they've been the better team in every match and by far the better in some of them and haven't won any of them.  I tallied these totals up over the 6 matches 146 shots to 38 against.  72 corners to 19 against and 420 touches in the opponents box to 38 against.  And they've drawn 3 of those and lost the other 3.  I knew they'd been unlucky, but had never known how unbelievably unlucky they've been.  I can't think of any team that has been that unlucky over the course of a few matches.

Correction..  420 touches to 74 against ... and that with arguably their best player missing from 4 of those 6

Boro utterly dominate again but can't score to save their lives

So much for the Saints tactical spy.  Seems to have backfired in more ways than one!

Clydebank29

Hayden Hackney has been missing since the middle of March - He won Championship player of the Year, he is not just Boro's best player, he is the League's best player in the opinion of the neutral judges. Results have dropped off since his absence. However all the team are very comfortable with passing, control and movement especially when fresh.

I am a Boro fan who watches nearly all their games. What tends to happen in games at the Riverside is the opposition just concentrate on defending and stopping certainly in the first 45 minutes. Boro rarely have an opportunity to catch teams on the break. They don't have the very physical or very fast players to open upbring on the  the opposition. Even away from home the often face a low block i.e. teams who create a 10 man tackling shield going forward in front of them when going forward. They have been unlucky, but that alone and missing Hackney are not just the only reasons for drop off in form. Opposition teams are playing them differently.

One advantage Coventry and Ipswich and to some extent Southampton have got/had is that they have bigger squads and so stronger benches, so they can change games in the second half by bringing on the same quality or even better from the bench who are fresh.

I have a couple of friends who support Boro.  Casual fans.  So I'm cheering them on for that reason.  Palace looking at Hackney to replace Wharton (allegedly)