Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick frustrated after missed opportunities prove costly against Bristol City

MIDDLESBROUGH boss Michael Carrick couldn’t hide his frustration after his team's second straight loss saw them slip further down the Championship standings.

Bristol City produced a performance to make absent head coach Liam Manning proud as they won 2-0.

Manning is currently away from the club following the death of his baby son Theo, with assistant head coach Chris Hogg leading the team at the Riverside Stadium.

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And first-half goals from Anis Mehmeti and Yu Hirakawa ensured City extended their unbeaten run to five matches.

FRUSTRATION: Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick (right) believes they should have got more from their game at home to Bristol City. Picture: Richard Sellers/PAFRUSTRATION: Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick (right) believes they should have got more from their game at home to Bristol City. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA
FRUSTRATION: Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick (right) believes they should have got more from their game at home to Bristol City. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA

Mehmeti hammered in the first in the 27th minute before Japanese winger Hirakawa curled in a lovely finish at the end of the first half.

Boro fans showed their frustrations at the end of both halves after watching their team struggle to turn possession and opportunities into goals.

Carrick, whose side have lost two in a row and have now slipped down to ninth, said: “It has happened too often.

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“We can’t be that on top and that creative and have nothing to show for it, never mind be 2-0 down at half-time.

“It is something we have to improve and goals change games. We should have been two or three up before those goals.

“We are all in this together, it is all of us. We have to find ways to do something about it. I thought first half we were good. Second half we weren’t as good and that is something we have to look at.

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t stick with it? One game ago we beat West Brom, we beat Stoke, and we were as good as we could be against Watford for 70 minutes.

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“Everyone would have been feeling fantastic and one game later it hasn’t gone to plan.”

Middlesbrough: Dieng, Ayling (Jones 80), van den Berg, Edmundson, Borges, Morris (McGree 74), Hackney, Doak, Azaz (Conway 62), Hamilton (Burgzorg 62), Latte Lath (Forss 79). Unused substitutes: Brynn, Barlaser, Clarke, Dijksteel.

Bristol City: O'Leary, Tanner, Vyner, McNally, McCrorie, Williams, Bird (Naismith 71), Hirakawa (McGuane 87), Knight, Mehmeti (Earthy 71), Wells (Armstrong 60). Unused substitutes: Bajic, Cornick, Mayulu, Morrison, Campbell-Slowey.

Referee: Sam Allison (Somerset).

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