The bubble that was growing after the 7-1 demolition of QPR was burst at the Riverside as Pulis did as he has so often done to Albion, beat us 1-0.
To be fair to the Welshman, however, Boro were a much better footballing side than the Stoke teams that used to kick, push and bully their way to a result, and probably just about deserved the points based on their first half performance.
As for Albion, they defended well until that fateful moment in the 91st minute when Hegazi was on his heels and tried to head a ball at waste height rather that attacking it – he probably expected Dawson to win it but he should have been attacking the ball. Ayala did handle the ball, but as Keith Andrews said on Sky, the referee was afraid to give decisions all night.
I thought it was a smart move from Moore to move JRod and Barnes wider in the second half to give Albion more options under what was an effective press from Boro, and Albion were unfortunate not to get away with a point.
Finally, it was good to see Dawson back in the squad and he looked good when he came on. While it was Adarabioyo who came off tonight, it might be Hegazi that ultimately loses his place in the side.
| Home | Away | Season End | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn* | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn | Pts | |
| 2000/2001 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 11th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6th | 74 |
| 2001/2002 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 10th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2nd | 89 |
| 2003/2004 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 1st | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2nd | 86 |
| 2006/2007 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 8th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4th | 76 |
| 2007/2008 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 3rd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1st | 81 |
| 2009/2010 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 1st | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 2nd | 91 |
| 2018/2019 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 7th | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||
Results
| 2000/2001 | 03/09/2000 | Crystal Palace (H) | W | 1-0 | McInnes |
| 2001/2002 | 08/09/2001 | Manchester City (H) | W | 4-0 | McInnes, Clement (2, 1 pen), Dobie |
| 2003/2004 | 30/08/2003 | Derby County (A) | W | 1-0 | Hulse |
| 2006/2007 | 28/08/2006 | Sunderland (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2007/2008 | 15/09/2007 | Ipswich Town (H) | W | 4-0 | Miller, Teixeira, Phillips (2) |
| 2009/2010 | 29/08/2009 | Sheffield United (A) | D | 2-2 | Bednar (2) |
| 2018/2019 | 24/08/2018 | Middlesbrough (A) | L | 0-1 |
Next Matches
| 2000/2001 | 09/09/2000 | Stockport County (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2001/2002 | 15/09/2001 | Watford (A) | W | 2-1 | Dobie (2) |
| 2003/2004 | 13/09/2003 | Ipswich Town (H) | W | 4-1 | Gaardsøe, Hulse (2), Diallo (o.g.) |
| 2006/2007 | 09/09/2006 | Leicester City (H) | W | 2-0 | Kenton (o.g.), Phillips (pen) |
| 2007/2008 | 18/09/2007 | Bristol City (A) | D | 1-1 | Koren |
| 2009/2010 | 12/09/2009 | Plymouth Argyle (H) | W | 3-1 | Martis, Cech (2) |
| 2018/2019 | 01/09/2018 | Stoke City (H) |