Middlesbrough 1-1 Bristol City: Chuba Akpom earns a point with second-half equaliser
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Chuba Akpom equalises for Middlesbrough against Bristol City
Chuba Akpom's second-half equaliser earned a point for Middlesbrough in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City at the Riverside Stadium.
Bristol City had taken the lead after 10 minutes when Andreas Weimann tapped-in a low cross from Tommy Conway.
Akpom equalised for Boro shortly after half-time, sweeping the ball under Max O'Leary after good work from Riley McGree.
The result sees Middlesbrough drop one place to 20th, with Bristol City falling to 16th in the Championship table.
There was an air of expectation around the stadium for Michael Carrick's first home game in charge of Middlesbrough and the hosts could have taken the lead after eight minutes but for a fantastic double save by O'Leary to deny first McGree and then Akpom.
Weimann started and ended the move that gave the Robins the lead, playing the ball out to Conway before continuing his run and tapping-in from just inside the penalty area.
Middlesbrough pushed for a first-half equaliser and Marcus Forss was unlucky to see his low effort from the edge of the area cannon away off the post.
However, it did not take long after half-time for the hosts to equalise when McGree's deflected left-wing cross fell perfectly at the feet of Akpom to slide home for his third goal in as many games under his new manager.
Carrick's side dominated for long periods, enjoying the lion's share of possession and having 23 shots, but found Robins goalkeeper O'Leary in inspired form to repel their efforts.
The industrious McGree came closest to scoring a winner for Boro but his late long-range effort was again well dealt with by O'Leary as the points were shared.
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick told BBC Radio Tees:
"The result's not what we wanted and probably not what we deserved but I'm really pleased with the lads.
"I was really pleased with how we went about having control and possession but actually looking dangerous with it as well at times. If it wasn't for their goalkeeper we'd be sitting here with more goals and more points.
"The reception the fans gave me at the start was brilliant and I thank them for that.
"We didn't send them home with the three points, but hopefully there's enough encouragement there and positivity so we can all be excited moving forward."
Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol:
"We had to work hard for the point but we showed some real attacking threat, in the first half in particular.
"We set it up for that type of game, to make the most of our pace up front with our attacking options.
"We've had criticism recently and rightly so at times, but our players showed a determination to defend our goal.
"We just needed to have more of the ball and control the possession a bit more but it turned into very much a counter-attacking game for us. It's a battling point."