Two goals in two first-half minutes earned Bristol City a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough – their first of 2024 in the Sky Bet Championship.
Jason Knight’s cool finish in the 16th minute was followed by Matty James’ drive in off the woodwork as Boro failed to get going.
Bristol City’s first league win since Boxing Day was enough to lift Liam Manning’s side level on points with the Teessiders in mid-table.
Middlesbrough did create chances and Samuel Silvera made things interesting in the closing seconds by pulling one back, without knowing much about it.
But head coach Michael Carrick had to suffer another defeat, with Boro having won only one of their last seven home league games. They have also picked up just five points from the last available 15.
Even though the Robins – who came through 120 minutes of FA Cup football against Nottingham Forest in midweek – had not won since Boxing Day, they were quick to make an impression.
George Tanner had already volleyed into the arms of goalkeeper Tom Glover, who had also done well to dive to his right to deny Harry Cornick from hitting the opener soon after.
The only time Middlesbrough threatened during the first half was when Hayden Hackney failed to bring the ball down quickly enough when he was picked out at the back post by Luke Ayling.
And City’s quickfire double came along shortly after. Defender Rob Dickie picked out Knight with an incisive through pass.
With just Glover to beat, Knight turned and spun away from the goalkeeper and Lukas Engel before finding the empty net.
Within two minutes Bristol City were two up. Highly-rated Hackney was at fault for gifting possession to James and the visitors’ captain fired in off the post from 20 yards.
Hackney tried to make amends 14 minutes later when his effort from 25 yards curled away from the far post, with goalkeeper Max O’Leary diving to cover.
But City should have been three up before the break. Cornick’s excellent run and pass from inside his own half put Sam Bell clear.
Rather than round Glover, Bell tried to beat him with a shot and the goalkeeper was big enough to thwart. That was followed by an O’Leary low save at the other end from Finn Azaz.
O’Leary had to be alert to make a strong save from Greenwood at the start of the second half after he had been picked out by Azaz in the box.
The Bristol City keeper made an even better save soon after by rushing off his line to deny Greenwood, who had been played in behind by Azaz. Marcus Forss also drilled an effort on the turn narrowly wide.
Middlesbrough tried different things but Manning’s men defended well. O’Leary also had to make another strong save to stop Rav van den Berg’s 25-yard drive from flying in.
Greenwood thought he had scored with 12 minutes to go only for the officials to rule it out for a very close offside call.
Middlesbrough did pull one back in stoppage-time when Azaz’s shot hit the back of substitute Silvera before bouncing in but it proved too little, too late.
LAFC must leave ‘egos at the front door’ for Sounders clash, says Cherundolo
Los Angeles FC head coach Steve Cherundolo instructed his players to leave their ‘egos at the front door’ ahead of their Western Conference semi-final against the Seattle Sounders.
LAFC are the highest-seeded team in the West, meaning they will have home advantage for the final if they make it past the Sounders on Sunday.
This year, the Black and Gold have already lifted silverware, the US Open Cup, and made it to the Leagues Cup final, but suffered some poor runs during the regular season and seemed to lose focus.
However, Cherundolo and his players were able to correct in time and enter the postseason with a real sense of momentum and a belief that they can go all the way.
“We’ve had a couple frank talks with the guys about checking your egos at the front door. We went through a difficult patch when we were really stretched thin in a lot of games with an impossible schedule, and we ended up coming out on top," Cherundolo said.
“I think it definitely helps to have played in games like this. But if you have not, the motivation will be much greater, so there’s give and takes.
“This particular team has experience and has some youth as well. What I really appreciate about this group is that we have different ways to break teams down depending on who we line up and how we work our bench. We have many ways to beat teams.”
Seattle, meanwhile, are hoping to rectify their poor head-to-head record against LAFC, having often found themselves on the losing end of a one-sided rivalry.
The Sounders have won just five of their 22 all-time meetings with LAFC, though midfielder Jordan Morris said his side were not afraid of the challenge lying ahead of his team-mates.
"Obviously they have gotten the better of us the last few times and it's frustrating," Morris said.
"We know how good of a team they are, but we know how good of a team we are as well and I think you see that over the back half of the season, how we played and climbed the table and got to where we are.
"So I think just having confidence, belief that we can play with anyone in this league, including this team."
Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer also alluded to potential changes in style, saying: “Well, we're not going to shy away. We're not going to change dramatically who we are,” Schmetzer said.
“We're still going to press high on goal kicks; if we have possession in their half of the field, we're going to counter-press – it's not like we're going to change everything. There are just subtle tweaks that we have to make. Because we haven't got good results against them.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
LAFC - Denis Bouanga
Bouanga has scored eight goals in playoff matches since his postseason debut in 2022, including netting the only goal in LAFC’s win over Seattle in last year’s conference semi-finals. No other player has more than five playoff goals in that time.
He also has an unbeaten record against the Sounders, winning three of his four games against them (D1), while also providing three goal involvements (two goals, one assist) in those matches.
Seattle Sounders - Cristian Roldan
Roldan has been a crucial figure for the Sounders this season, missing just two games throughout the season, while also starting all 43 games he has featured in. But, he will be hoping for a better performance this time around.
After putting the Sounders ahead in their Game 2 draw with Houston via an 87th-minute goal, he put through his own net in second-half stoppage time to send the match to penalties. Roldan is the first player in MLS history to score a goal and an own goal in a single playoff match.
MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN
LAFC has won six straight matches against Seattle in all competitions, dating back to last season’s playoffs, eliminating the Sounders in last year’s postseason at the conference semi-final stage as well as knocking them out of this year’s Leagues Cup (quarter-final) and US Open Cup (semi-final).
The Black and Gold have also won six of their last seven home playoff matches, winning the other in a penalty shoot-out (vs. Philadelphia Union in the 2022 MLS Cup Final). The last visiting team to beat LAFC in a playoff match was the Sounders in the 2019 Western Conference Final.
Seattle advanced after beating the Dynamo on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Houston in Game 2 of their first round series. The Sounders have won only one of their last six road playoff matches (D1 L4) dating back to the 2017 MLS Cup Final, but that win was away to LAFC in the 2019 Western Conference Final.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LAFC – 49.5%
Draw – 25.4%
Seattle Sounders – 25.1%
Plymouth Argyle 2-2 Watford: Two-goal Gray rescues point for Rooney's side
Andre Gray scored twice against his former club to salvage a point for struggling Plymouth Argyle as they drew 2-2 with Watford on Friday.
Gray curled in an equaliser in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a crucial point for Wayne Rooney's side in their bid for survival in the Championship.
The visitors made a quick start at Home Park when Ivorian striker Vakoun Bayo bundled in a cross from Yasser Larouci only eight minutes in.
Plymouth did, however, equalise against the run of play in the 23rd minute when Lewis Gibson's long ball into the box was met with a spectacular volley from Gray.
Watford regained the lead before the break when Imran Louza's free-kick was knocked back by Mattie Pollock, with centre-back Ryan Porteous on hand to steer the ball home.
But just as it looked like Watford would go home with all three points, Gray picked up the ball on the edge of the area and fired home a stunning effort beyond Daniel Bachmann.
Tom Cleverley's Watford sit in fifth place and trail leaders Sunderland by five points, while Plymouth are 17th with 17 points from 16 matches.
Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Toulouse: Neves stars in comfortable home win
Paris Saint-Germain maintained their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a comfortable 3-0 win over Toulouse on Friday.
Following Monaco's 3-2 win over Brest earlier in the day, Luis Enrique's side responded emphatically to stay five points clear at the top of the table.
After a dominant start, PSG got themselves ahead in stunning fashion when Achraf Hakimi's cross was brilliantly driven first-time into the bottom corner by Joao Neves.
But Toulouse provided a threat after the break and should have drawn level in the 70th minute through Shavy Babicka, but he fired over with only Matvey Safonov to beat.
That mistake ultimately proved costly with the hosts doubling their advantage eight minutes from time when Beraldo took advantage of some poor defending to finish inside the box.
The triumph was sealed in the first minute of second-half stoppage time through substitute Vitinha, who danced into the box before finishing high into the corner from close range.
Luis Enrique's side will now turn their attentions to the Champions League, with a daunting trip to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich awaiting on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Party in Paris
PSG's dominance in Ligue 1 continued on Friday, with Luis Enrique's side now having lost just one of their last 41 matches in the top-flight (W30 D10).
Neves was a particular standout for the hosts, winning more duels (nine), registering the joint-most shots on target (two) and the joint-most final third entries (seven) during the game.
Despite the scoreline, PSG were perhaps fortunate to emerge victorious. Though Luis Enrique's side accumulated 17 shots to Toulouse's 11, it was the visitors who ended the contest with a higher expected goals (xG) total, managing 1.39 to the Parisiens' 1.35.
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