It was a worry that, with only one loss in the previous 8 and Charlton's recent form of not winning since November 10th - and with the awards - that 'typical boro' ways would creep back into our way of playing and that we would lose against the "easier opponents", with no disrespect meant to Charlton. We had done so against Blackpool earlier in the season, letting the lead slip in the game which, if we'd won, would see us sitting 2 points clear at the top.
But to quote Muzzy Carayol (along with nearly every other person) 'Everything happens for a reason' and we may not have kicked on since then to only lose 2 games in all competitions since that clash on the 30th of September.
And the start of the game gave no implication that we would slip up, as Bamford nodded in from a Leadbitter corner in the 5th minute. Karanka fielded the same team as faced Brentford the week before, presumably to show everyone that they didn't fluke the win against the Bees and to put in a good performance.
The rest of the first half, from the 10th minute or so onwards, was poor. Misplaced passes galore and little to no attacking threat. Charlton's goal was no shock, therefore, as even given their poor form of late, this kind of performance would've been punished by a Blackpool or Leeds. (Sorry, cheap shot.)
But as the half time whistle went, Gudmundsson's effort was what we took from the first half. No team had dominated, and that was reflected in the scoreline.
It seems to be a feature of my thinking lately that 'Karanka must be giving these guys a kick up the backside for that performance.' It shows, however, because the performances in the first half against Huddersfield and Cardiff in particular have been poor.
The team was out to prove a point in the second half, and scored within 3 minutes of the restart, as the rejuvenated Tomlin (a point i'll come back to later) saw he shot fall back to him and he squared the ball for Vossen who could do nothing but score from two yards out. Unlike the Seattle Seahawks. (Sorry, cheap shots are becoming a common feature... I need to stop.)
Vossen did have chances to increase his goal scoring tally for the season, but the 'keeping of Dmitrovic kept it at 6 in total for the Belgian.
Charlton's threat was limited, as they seemed to lack creativity and a 3rd was added not long from time, when a routine straight from the training ground was dispatched, as Tomlin volleyed in from the edge of the box, as Leadbitter found him open and with time.
Now, I remember saying before that I wasn't the biggest fan on Tomlin. He's made me take that back, however, with a great recent run of form. He played well against Liverpool earlier in the season, but didn't carry that on into the league. But, it looks as if Karanka said to the team in those two games prior to Man City that places were up for grabs and Tomlin took that chance by the throat, scoring 3 goals in a week, earning him a start and nearly earning him THAT goal.
Lets have another look shall we?
His goals and performances have bolstered his confidence shown, not only in his play, but in his twitter antics. Lets have a look at that again shall we?
My washing machine was making loads of noise I opened it and kompany crawled out I must of left him in my pocket 😂😂😂 #banter
— Lee Tomlin (@Leetomlin10) February 2, 2015
Man City fans yes I'm aware he's won the prem but when chelsea win it this season you will support them 😂 #banter
— Lee Tomlin (@Leetomlin10) February 3, 2015
But this kind of '#banter' will only go so far and having handled egos like CR7s I'm sure Karanka will keep him in check and make sure he is fully focused on the games that remain. Especially for the game against Blackpool.
This is a game sent from the gods... on paper. Bournemouth and Derby face off on the same day, and, should that be a draw, we would have the chance to go top of the table by a point with a win. And we couldn't have asked for an easier game ON PAPER. Blackpool are bottom of the table and have scored only 3 more goals than we have conceded all season.
It would be so like the Boro of old to disappoint when we are on the edge of greatness... *Cough* Eindhoven 2006 *Cough*
Karanka has given us no reason to doubt his ability so far so why should we? Now I've definitely said that before, One thing I will hopefully be saying soon, is that we are top of the league.
