EXPECTATIONS have never been higher on Teesside and it eases the pressure on a manager who has been ambitiously busy in the transfer market if a new striker scores on his debut. At Craven Cottage Mark Viduka followed in the footsteps of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and proved he was worth signing by scoring in his first Premiership match in a Middlesbrough shirt. On paper the duo look fearsome, and they have had no need for a settling-in period.
“We controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish,” Steve McClaren, the Middlesbrough manager, said. This was true but would have surprised Fulham, given that Arsenal had put five goals past Middlesbrough three days earlier. “It was interesting to see how they would bounce back,” McClaren said.
The return of Gareth Southgate from injury helped, and with Viduka available after suspension to partner Hasselbaink in attack, Middlesbrough had a menacing air about them even if Viduka was short of match fitness. A trademark shot on the turn in the first half from the former Leeds United forward, signed for £4.5 million, lacked bite. But in the 55th minute Viduka neatly connected with a cross by Hasselbaink from the right, holding off Zat Knight, to give Middlesbrough the lead.
While Middlesbrough learnt their lessons, Fulham rested on the laurels of their win over Bolton Wanderers. “If I had a brand new set of 11 players, I’d play them on Monday,” Chris Coleman, the Fulham manager, said.
Middlesbrough dominated once they were ahead and Szilard Nemeth met a pass by Franck Queudrue across the face of goal to make it 2-0 in the 79th minute.
Advertisement
FULHAM (4-1-2-3): E van der Sar — M Volz, Z Knight, A Goma, C Bocanegra — P Bouba Diop (sub: L Boa Morte, 74min) — S Legwinski, C Jensen — C John (sub: B McBride, 62), A Cole, T Radzinski. Substitutes not used: M Crossley, M Pembridge, J Bonnissel.
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): M Schwarzer — S Parnaby, G Southgate, C Riggott, F Queudrue — G Mendieta (sub: S Nemeth, 77), G Boateng (sub: Doriva, 89), R Parlour, B Zenden — M Viduka (sub: J-D Job, 72), J F Hasselbaink. Substitutes not used: C Nash, C Cooper. Booked: Zenden.
Referee: D Gallagher.