Barnsley 1-0 Middlesbrough

Last updated : 23 February 2020 By Rob Miles

Barnsley kept alive their hopes of survival by recording back to back wins for only the second time this season and reduce the gap to safety by one point to five.

It is the first time in a Championship season since 2016-2017 that Barnsley have won back to back games on more than one occasion.

Remarkably it is the first time they have secured back to back wins with clean sheets in the Championship for 10 years, last doing so in February 2010 (Cardiff 2-0, Blackpool 1-0)

Indeed it also the first time Barnsley have recorded back to back clean sheets at this level since January 2018 v Sunderland and Wolves.

Since those back to back shut outs Barnsley have only kept seven clean sheets in 53 Championship games.

It is only the second home clean sheet of the season, with the only previous Oakwell shutout also coming in a 1-0 win - on the opening day, v Fulham.

This was the 11th Barnsley league match to be goal-less at half time this season, and finally the first time the Reds have gone on to win from such a situation (W1 D4 L6)

This is the first time since 1990-1991 that both Barnsley v Middlesbrough meetings have finished 1-0 with the same occurring then with wins for the home teams on both occasions.

This was Barnsley's first win in six meetings with Boro (all comps) having lost four of the previous five.

However they have lost only one of the last five meetings at Oakwell and that came in the FA Cup. Boro's last league victory at Oakwell was back in August 2011.

Three of Barnsley's last four home victories against Boro have been accompanied with clean sheets.

This result saw Barnsley break the 30 point mark (now sitting on 31) it is the first time it has took 34 games to reach this tally since 2013-2014 when it took until the 37th game.

After a run of four consecutive league victories in which they kept three clean sheets, Middlesbrough are now winless in their last eight Championship matches (D4 L4), conceding at least once each time.

Middlesbrough's Championship games have seen just 78 goals this season (F34 A44), fewer than any other side in the division.

Barnsley have won each of the last six games in which they have scored the first goal of the game (Fulham, Huddersfield, Crewe, Millwall, QPR, Middlesbrough)

Barnsley have won eight games in all competitions this season and Conor Chaplin has netted in six of them, only failing to do so in the wins against Fulham.

Middlesbrough failed to have a shot on target, the first time Barnsley have not faced a single shot on target since January 2019 against Bradford and the first time in the Championship since January 2018 against Wolves.

There were only 15 fouls given in the game, the lowest since Swansea at home in October (13)

Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
2. Jordan Williams
7. Jacob Brown
9. Cauley Woodrow
10. Mike Bahre
11.Conor Chaplin
14. Kilian Ludewig
18. Michael Sollbauer
22. Clark Oduor
24. Aapo Halme
27. Alex Mowatt (C)

Substitutes:
16. Luke Thomas (for Chaplin 82)
17. Marcel Ritzmaier (for Bahre 89)

Unused Substitutes:
3. Ben Williams, 4. Kenny Dougall, 13. Jack Walton, 19. Patrick Schmidt, 28. Elliot Simoes.

Middlesbrough Team:
42. Aynsley Pears
18. Harold Moukoudi
5. Ryan Shotton
3. George Friend (c)
16. Jonny Howson
26. Lewis Wing
22. George Saville
15. Ravel Morrison
21. Marvin Johnson
11. Ashley Fletcher
9. Britt Assombalonga

Substitutions:
14. Rudy Gestede (for Assombalonga 72)
17. Paddy McNair (for Saville 79)
33. Hayden Coulson (for Morrison 79)

Unused Substitutes:
1. Tomas Mejias, 7. Marcus Tavernier, 8. Adam Clayton, 20. Lukas Nmecha.

Middlesbrough manager Jonthan Woodgate said:

"It's a really frustrating day, they played better than us on the day and deserved to win.

"We're going through a difficult time and we need experience on the pitch. People will always scrutinise your calls, if you win the game it was the right decision if not people will question you.

"The pressure was on today and that's when you need players to stand up and get on the ball and that's what we need to get back to doing."

Match Reports:

Official Website

BBC

Sky Sports

Sky Bet Championship results

FRIDAY 21ST FEBRUARY 2020
Derby County (13th) 1-1 Fulham (3rd)
Rooney pen 55
                                        Mitrovic 71

SATURDAY 22ND FEBRUARY 2020
Brentford (4th) 2-2 Blackburn Rovers (8th)
                              Armstrong 11
                              Armstrong pen 54
Watkins 62
Benrahma pen 71

BARNSLEY (23rd) 1-0 Middlesbrough (20th)
Chaplin 73

Birmingham City (14th) 3-3 Sheffield Wednesday (12th)
Murphy og 6
                                            Bannan 20
Jutkiewicz 30
                                            Forestieri pen 34
                                            Murphy 65
Hogan 90+1

Bristol City (7th) 0-3 West Bromwich Albion (1st)
                                 Robinson 32
                                 Robson-Kanu 36
                                 Robson-Kanu 79

Charlton Athletic (18th) 3-1 Luton Town (24th)
Taylor 34
                                           Cornick 36
Taylor pen 61
Lapslie 87

Leeds United (2nd) 1-0 Reading (16th)
Hernandez 57

Nottingham Forest (5th) 0-0 Queens Park Rangers (15th)

Preston North End (6th) 2-1 Hull City (17th)
                                             Wilks 40
Gallagher pen 67
Browne 71

Stoke City (19th) 2-0 Cardiff City (10th)
Paterson og 25
Allen 72

Swansea City (9th) 3-1 Huddersfield Town (21st)
Ayew 28
                                      Mounie 78
Fulton 80
Garrick 90

Wigan Athletic (22nd) 1-0 Millwall (11th)
Hutchinson og 57

Barnsley lie in 23rd place in the Sky Bet Championship with 31 points from 34 games. We are 25 points outside the Play-Offs, 31 points outside the Automatic Promotion Places, 35 points outside First Place and 5 points inside the Relegation Zone.
Up to 22/2/20

Next Up:

On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Thirty Five: Hull City v Barnsley, Wednesday 26th February 2020. Kick-Off: 7:45pm

At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Thirty Seven: Barnsley v Cardiff City, Saturday 7th March 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm