Middlesbrough vs Bournemouth match report: Gaston Ramirez guides Boro to first win in eight

Middlesbrough 2 Bournemouth 0: Stewart Downing added a close-range second

Gaston Ramirez scored a wonderful solo goal (Getty)

Gareth Southgate discovered little he didn’t already know already about the homegrown players on view, but England’s caretaker-manager must still have enjoyed his return visit to Middlesbrough.

Southgate, a former player and manager at Middlesbrough, witnessed an overdue victory for a club close to his heart and saw them go ahead with a goal that will rank as one of the best of the season in the Premier League.

Sadly for Southgate, the scorer was a Uruguayan - Gaston Ramirez - but Middlesbrough’s second came from an Englishman, Stewart Downing, whose international days are now behind him.

By the end, it was a deserved win for Boro - their first in eight games - and showed why their manager Aitor Karanka rates Ramirez highly.‎

Karanka said: “I wanted to sign him after he was on loan last season and that shows how important he is to us. The main thing is he’s really confident and when he’s confident he’s an amazing player.”

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said: “It’s a disappointing goal for us. It was our corner and we expected an opportunity to score and they broke away. He has taken it really well, but we helped him.”

“It’s also been a disappointing day for us. They got two goals that we wouldn’t have conceded in previous weeks when we have been good on the ball. We haven’t performed at our usual levels.

“We didn’t play at our usual tempo and it’s hard to put a finger on the reason why. “I’ve been very critical of the performance, but we still had chances to win. It was a very, very tight game.”

The early stages had certainly suggested it would be a difficult day for a Middlesbrough team that lacked Daniel Ayala, the central defender who was a significant factor in their goalless draw at Arsenal seven days earlier.

Ramirez opened the scoring for Boro (Getty)

In his absence, uncertainty in Karanka’s defence was almost punished after only 14 minutes when Adam Clayton showed the value of having players on the posts at corners as he headed out Josh King’s hooked shot.

And King was again close to the opening goal in the 28th minute after a move which further exposed Middlesbrough’s back four as he evaded them to move onto a perfectly-judged chip from Jack Wilshere. King took the ball on his chest and only the fingertips of goalkeeper Victor Valdes diverted it onto the bar.

They were punished for their failure to take the lead by Ramirez’s goal in the 38th minute when the Uruguayan collected the ball 20 yards inside his own half and surged forward. By the time his run ended, Ramirez had reached the Bournemouth penalty area, cut inside Andrew Surman and steered his shot past Artur Boruc.

It was a goal worthy of winning any match, but Middlesbrough needed the security of a second that arrived in the 56th minute. Traore was involved as his cross picked out Alvaro Negredo, who headed down to leave Downing with a simple task in front of goal.

Howe reacted immediately by sending on Ryan Fraser for Jordon Ibe, who has started all ten league games this season and been substituted every time. Benik Afobe also replaced Callum Wilson and almost scored within seconds of going when his shot was saved by Valdes, but that was the closest they came to a reply.

Stewart Downing finished from close range for a second (Getty)

Karanka said:”It’s a massive win for us. We needed a win a game at home because our fans deserved the best. With tehm behind us and with our atittude, we won the game. We showed we are strong.

“We had a few problems in the first-half, though, Bournemouth were playing well and I had to change the shape of the team. We looked more comfortable from then on -

Middlesbrough 4-2-3-1: Valdes; Barragan, Chambers, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, Forshaw; Traore (Fischer 90), Ramirez (Leadbitter 63), Downing; Negredo (Rhodes 86). Subs: Guzan, Fabio, Bernardo, Nugent.

AFC Bournemouth 4-2-3-1: Boruc; Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels; Surman, Arter (Gosling 73; King, Wilshere, Ibe (Fraser 60); Wilson (Afobe 60). Subs: Federici, Ake, Gradel, Mings.

Referee: Stuart Attwell