Middlesbrough and Bristol City shared the points in a 1-1 draw at the Riverside Stadium this afternoon.
The away side had a chance to take the lead inside two minutes. Albert Adomah's cross picked out Jon Stead, who laid the ball back to Stephen Pearson, only for the midfielder to lose his footing and allow the opportunity to fizzle out.
Bristol eventually took the lead on 13 minutes, with a confident chip over the goalkeeper by Hogan Ephraim on his first appearance for the side.
The goal was Bristol City's first away from home since the turn of the year.
The home side reacted well to the early setback, stringing together some passing moves without really threatening to score.
Boro continued to fire warning shots from distance but struggled to hit the target, while City looked dangerous when the occasional chance arose to hit the home side on the break.
Middlesbrough were booed off as the half-time whistle went, with the score still at 1-0.
The away side, again, started the half well and threatened the double their lead.
However, it was Middlesbrough who got the equaliser despite the bright start from Bristol. Malaury Martin lashed in an unstoppable 25-yard drive high into the net to level the score.
Middlesbrough continued to press for the winner, but Dean Gerken in the Bristol City goal pulled off a series of impressive saves to keep the home side out.
Derek McInnes then adopted a safety-first approach to secure a point for his side, eventually going for a five-man defence.
The tactics worked as the sides played out a 1-1 draw.
Sam Hughes
