Michael Carrick, the manager of Middlesbrough, acknowledged that Riley McGree’s incredible winning goal was the “wow” factor in their 1-0 Championship victory at St Andrew’s, and that it could win any match.
McGree, a former Blues midfielder, scored his sixth goal of the season in the 17th minute—his first since September—to give Boro their third straight win.
The fans of Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town, who are both currently in the drop zone, were probably pleased with the Teessiders’ narrow victory over the relegation-threatened hosts. The team is currently in ninth place, five points out of the final play-off spot.
Fourth from the bottom In the match that was essentially theirs, the Blues are only one point ahead of the Yorkshire pair.
Carrick commented, “I don’t think you expect that but it was a pure strike from Riley,” in reference to McGree’s strike.
“He can have those kinds of moments, and he’s experienced one or two of those ‘wow’ moments with goals that he’s scored.”
“It was an incredible strike that was worthy of winning any game. Like some of the boys, he’s capable of even more than that.
“I felt the game had some truly outstanding moments, and that one stood out in particular.
“Hopefully he’s coming into a real vein of form when we need him.”
In observance of the club where he spent 15 months on loan over two seasons, from October 2020 to the end of 2021, McGree held back on his celebrations.
Knowing Riley, that was the only option. He’s very respectful, modest, and grounded,” Carrick continued.
“I didn’t realise that but if he didn’t celebrate, I can understand that.”
On Boro’s chances of finishing in the top six, Carrick remained ambiguous. On Saturday, Boro will host bogey team Blackburn Rovers at home.
“Let’s see where we go – we’ve had a good week,” he replied.
Since we were the only team playing, we knew we had a slight advantage, so we took full advantage of it.
“Just because we won’t guarantee that we’ll win the next game by default. We must begin anew and get ready for that.”
After Luke Ayling, a Leeds United loanee, easily cut out Alex Pritchard’s pass, McGree struck an incredible left-foot drive into the top corner from 25 yards.
After losing their game in hand, Birmingham has now gone five games without a victory and is only one point above the relegation zone.
Mark Venus, the interim manager, acknowledged that the loss of head coach Tony Mowbray due to illness was felt profoundly.
“He’s making good progress and we can’t get him back quickly enough and hopefully he will be back in the future,” Venus said.
“He has been sorely and profoundly missed. He’s a driver, a motivator, and a leader, and when you have someone like him in the lead, you definitely miss him.
“The club does not have enough leaders. However, we must make the most of what we have, improve, and overcome this.
“It’s a lack of quality that we all have to address.”
