Middlesborough 1-0 Chelsea: A bad night for the Blues

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Chelsea travelled to Riverside for an FA Cup contest with Middlesborough, but lost the match by one goal to nought even after dominating the game.

Middlesborough’s Hayden Hackney scored in the 37th minute, assisted by Isaiah Jones.

‘It’s a semi-final, an important game,’ Chelsea’s Noni Madueke said before the match. ‘Credit to Middlesbrough, they have got this far, the same as us. So we can’t underestimate them.

‘Today is the biggest game of the season so far, and we want to put in a great performance and give ourselves an advantage going into the second leg at Stamford Bridge.’

It turned out to be a sad night for the Blues who lost the match after an interesting performance and got a yellow card in the person of Levi Colwill.

The road to the FA Cup finals is still open for Chelsea who will meet Middlesborough for the second leg soon.

Seeing the way Chelsea dominated their opponents from Preston, and how the Blues dealt with the game at Riverside, it would not be out of place to expect a better second leg from the Londoners.

Participators on the pitch, according to Chelsea’s official website, were as follows:

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Gusto (Gilchrist 90), Disasi, Thiago Silva, Colwill; Caicedo, Enzo (Mudryk 63); Madueke (Broja 63), Gallagher (c), Sterling; Palmer
Substitutes: Bergstrom, Bettinelli, Williams, Golding, Washington
Booked: Colwill 30

Middlesbrough (3-4-3): Glover; Van den Berg, Fry, Engel; I. Jones, Howson (c), Barlaser, Bangura (Clarke 20); Crooks, Latte Lath (Coburn 5), Hackney
Substitutes: J. Jones, Clarke, Gilbert, O’Brien, Kavanagh, McCabe, Bridge, Bilongo
Scorer: Hackney 37

Referee: Samuel Barrott