Millers miss golden chance to snatch three points as early red card sets the tone for Boro victory

Rotherham United must’ve been thinking it was their day after taking a shock lead inside the first five minutes – but referee Darren Bond’s dismissal of Matt Crooks after 18 minutes flipped the game on its head.

Angus MacDonald headed home his first goal for the club after three minutes from a corner to give the Millers the lead, but the tide soon turned when Matt Crooks was sent for an early shower following a clash of heads that Neil Warnock described as ‘endangering the player.’

United boss Paul Warne confirmed he will appeal the decision, and added Crooks was ‘heartbroken’ by the ruling.

“Crooksy has never been sent off for me before. He’s not a dirty player. I want him to attack that ball because that’s the way we play. It’s a contact sport. He’s not maliciously gone to hurt the lad. After the game, he looked heartbroken. It wasn’t the face of a warrior who’s gone round trying to ‘hench’ people.”

Grant Hall, the Boro centre-half on the other end of the challenge couldn’t continue and the visitors were forced in to an early substitution as Connor Malley came on for his league debut.

Skipper Jonny Howson dropped to centre-half to fill Hall’s absence, and delivered a traditional captain’s performance – doing exactly what was required of him and keeping it simple.

Middlesbrough responded with an equaliser shortly after, as George Saville fired in to the roof of the net following fantastic skill from Neeskens Kebano on the byline to open up the opportunity. The strike broke the Northern Irish international in to double figures for goal contributions in the Championship this season, with six goals and four assists respectively.

Chuba Akpom netted his first goal in 17 games for the North Yorkshire side, capping off a brilliant drilled cross from Paddy McNair; proving how vital the Ulster lads have been in Boro’s victories this season.

The travelling team saw the game out with class, with Rotherham begging for just a sniff of the ball in the closing stages. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the hosts made that known – they’ll take their fight for survival right down until the final day.

Warnock was delighted with the Sky Sports Man of the Match Connor Malley on his Boro debut, making quite an impression – the 21-year-old proved he can indeed swim after being thrown in the deep end.

“I thought Connor was very good. We could have put Hayden on, but we just thought with the ten men, Connor is more comfortable on the ball, and there were more chances for him to create. He sometimes lacks a little bit of quickness in there, but we knew with ten men he wouldn’t get closed down as much.”

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— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) April 21, 2021

Sitting comfortably in mid-table, Middlesbrough can afford to take their foot off the gas and experiment with young players as the current campaign draws to a close – possibly even working out which youngsters Warnock would like to introduce in the new season.

The situation is the polar opposite for Rotherham, with Wednesday’s missed opportunity leaving the Millers four points off safety but still possessing a war chest; two games in hand.

It’s not an easy run-in for Paul Warne’s men, with their next games away trips to Play-Off contenders Barnsley and Brentford. As we all know, however, no one can be written off in this game.

Sometimes, even the impossible is possible.