[NoSkillz]

Sat. November 19, 2022

Barclays Premier League
Dover (9-1-3, 28 points, 2nd) vs. Middlesbrough (5-2-6, 17 points, 13th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Middlesbrough: 3-1
Past Meetings: 5W 1D 4L

Middlesbrough have been mid-table constants in the Premier League since their last promotion after the 2010/11 season, finishing as high as 4th (!!) in 2014/15. Their biggest off-season signing was from us, when they bought DC Thomas Andersen for £4.7 million. Actually, if Andersen plays today, we'll be due an additional £250,000 in bonus clauses for him playing in his tenth league game. Their big signing, however, was a £4.2 million deal for 25 year old SC Cambuur striker Roland Hoxha and he's been sensational for Middlesbrough, with 10 goals in only 12 games already. He has 9 goals in 8 league starts so he's definitely in-form at the moment and along with midfielder Thorgan Hazard, their danger men for the match.

With a HUGE midweek Champions League matchup against Porto forthcoming, I'm rolling the dice here a bit and going with a number of backups. Paul Moses will get his first league start alone up front in our 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) formation. Zoltan Bardi will sit behind him at AMC and he'll have Said Henni on his left and Graham Allan on his right as we go with four backups in attack. Gian Marco Fanfoni will spell Neil Cairney as well and Manuel Perez is in goal. The defence is our normal starting four and Andrea Rocca will also start. Middlesbrough have trouble with this formation according to our advanced scout and we did beat them convincingly last year in an FA Cup tie (I believe) with the one striker set.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - M. Perez
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - G. Fanfoni, A. Rocca
AM - S. Henni, Z. Bardi, G. Allan
S - P. Moses
Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, Neil Cairney, S. Spall, G. Bolis, A. Bamba, S. Andrea

Middlesbrough are in their own 4-2-3-1 with Hoxha up front alone and Hazard amongst three tight AMCs right behind him. Sinan Bolat is in goal. I tell the team to perform well for their ardent supporters and pull aside Graham Allan, Said Henni and Zoltan Bardi for personal chats.

4' - Henni with the first chance, as he takes a Renato Gaucho pass, gets into the box and forces Sinan Bolat into a tough save.

8' - We're applying pressure in their area and their defence head it out of danger but right to Zoltan Bardi. He takes the ball back into the box and with his weaker left foot, hits an absolute screamer across his body and into the far right corner of the goal! Great shot Bardi! DOVER GOAL 1-0

13' - Rocca takes a pass from Graham Allan and shoots but Sinan Bolat is in good position for that one.

17' - AHHH. Contreras starts a quick counter and sends it up the right flank to Paul Moses. He BLOWS by the defenders and sends a perfect cross right onto the foot of Bardi but our goal scorer shoots right at the goalkeeper and the ball is deflected away. What a chance!

21' - Rocca takes a corner and the very active Bardi heads it toward goal but Sinan Bolat somehow keeps it out and Middlesbrough clear.

37' - Off a throw in, Bardi takes it and sends a little pass right into the box to Rocca but his one-time blast is off the post! We're pouring on the pressure here!

39' - Moses has the ball but he's fouled and the ball squirts up to Henni. The ref allows play to thankfully continue and Henni cuts in on goal but Sinan Bolat makes the huge save to keep Middlesbrough in it.

HALFTIME - Sheer domination but we only have one goal to show for it. We held 55% of the ball and outshoot them 17-5 (7-0 on target). We deserve better. I tell the team I'm pleased and no tactics changes.

52' - Moses has a breakaway and for some reason, pulls up a bit after trying to round the keeper and we get no shot off. He's not playing with confidence for some reason, even though he's been tearing it up for our reserves.

55' - Hoxha finally makes his presence felt with a nice little move to the inside and a hard shot but Perez is there for his first save of the night.

60' - And there it is! Henni wins a battle down the left flank deep in Middlesbrough territory and he crosses it into the area and it's Paul Moses, shooting immediately and it's off a defender and in the net! Moses with his second of the year and we have a cushion! DOVER GOAL 2-0

63' - That's all Moses needed to boost his confidence, as he sends in Allan but his hard shot is right at Sinan Bolat and the save is made.

66' - It's Allan again with a rocket from the corner of the area and Sinan Bolat makes the sprawling stop!

70' - Time to start thinking about our Porto game. Rocca and Loucif come off and in their place come Shaun Spall and Kostas Zagos.

73' - We have it on the left side and Fanfoni lays the ball off for Renato Gaucho. He sends a high arching cross into the area - Moses tries the header but misses it but the ball comes right to Graham Allan, who hits it on the volley and blasts it into the net. Allan's first ever goal for Dover! Beauty! DOVER GOAL 3-0

78' - Hamon takes down Hoxha just outside the area and gets a yellow card.

We immediately take out Hamon and in comes Daniel Traore.

83' - Bardi with a great through ball to Moses and he's in all alone. He beats Sinan Bolat but it slams off the crossbar! Said Henni gets the rebound and heads it toward the empty net but the Middlesbrough keeper dives back and makes the spectacular stop again. WOW!

90'+1 - We have a corner and Graham Allan's kick is headed by substitute Daniel Traore and it's IN! Traore's second of the season and we strike for four goals! DOVER GOAL 4-0

Awesome!

Dover 4 - 0 Middlesbrough
Goals - Zoltan Bardi (8.5), Paul Moses (8.1), Graham Allan (9.1), Daniel Traore (7.4)
Assists - Renato Gaucho (8.4), Graham Allan, Said Henni (7.7)
Man of the Match - Graham Allan
Other Dover Notables - Manuel Perez (7.4), Salim Loucif (7.8), Rayane Hamon (7.5), Claudio Contreras (7.2), Andrea Rocca (7.0), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.1)
Attendance - 16,588

Middlesbrough actually edge us in possession with 51% but we outshoot them by a whopping total of 32-13 (13-3 on target). A wonderful performance with five backups in the lineup. Easily Graham Allan's best performance so far for us and Bardi was great too.

-- The tough Sheffield Wednesday club hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw, while United win over Spurs 2-0 and City beat Arsenal 3-2. We gain two points on Chelsea and remain in second.



BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 14 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Chelsea - 35 points
2. Dover - 31 points
3. Manchester United - 30 points
4. Manchester City - 30 points
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5. Sheffield Wednesday - 26 points
6. Arsenal - 26 points (13 games played)
7. Aston Villa - 23 points
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Premier League Team of the Week

-- Four of our players make the Barclays Premier League team of the week, including GK Manuel Perez, DL Renato Gaucho, MR Graham Allan and AMC Zoltan Bardi.



Champions League Update

-- In Group E, Real Madrid edge Grasshoppers 1-0 and OM win 3-1 over CSKA Moscow. Those results lock away spots in the knockout stages for both winners.

-- In Group F, Benfica walk all over Hoffenheim 5-2 while Man City edge Le Mans FC. The winners there both lock up qualification to the knockout stages as well.

-- In Group G, Sampdoria shock FC Bayern 1-0 in Germany while Shakhtar edge Fenerbahce by the same score. Again, the results are meaningless now, as both Bayern and Sampdoria have locked away spots in the knockout stages.

-- And finally, in Group H, Atletico Madrid and Liverpool win their games and qualification into the next round. So with a game remaining for all teams in these four groups, all of the qualification spots are accounted for!



Next Up

-- We head to Portugal to face Porto in a Champions League Group B match.