The Bluebirds and Boro shared the points at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, January 4th, 2025.
The lightning combination of Ben Doak and Emmanuel Latte Lath helped the hosts to open the scoring, but Omer Riza's City side fought hard, and got a deserved levelling goal through Calum Chambers' first effort for the Club.
The Bluebirds were without top goalscorer Callum Robinson for the trip to the Riverside, with his suspension upheld following a red card last time out. Ollie Tanner and Rubin Colwill both came into the starting XI with Chris Willock dropping to the substitutes bench.
Two long distance efforts threatened in the opening ten minutes of the fixture. Tanner, three minutes in, firstly cut inside and struck from 20-yards with his right foot, but his effort was tipped away by Tom Glover. Six minutes later, it was Jak Alnwick's turn to push away a strike from a similar range, denying Daniel Barlaser.
The hosts found the first goal with 12 minutes gone. Liverpool loanee Ben Doak showed his electric pace down the right wing, before crossing for Emmanuel Latte Lath, who lashed the ball in at close range.
City soaked up some pressure from their hosts, who looked for a second goal, and the Bluebirds were rewarded for their tenacious early counter attacking display with an equalising goal after 21 minutes. The Middlesbrough defence failed to clear the ball as Tanner looked to get a shot away with the ball eventually reaching Calum Chambers on the edge of the box. The former Arsenal man delivered an exquisite finish into the top corner of the net to level the game up.
The home side saw the most of the ball in the remainder of the opening half, but City always threatened on the break. In the second 45', Omer Riza's side saw Dimi Goutas head over from Alex Robertson's corner kick with the hour mark approaching as both teams tried to find that all important third goal of the encounter.
The home side dominated possession and looked to break through the defiant Bluebirds. It took an important interception from Goutas to deny Doak a second assist, as he put a dangerous low cross in after 74 minutes. It took further heroics from his goalkeeper, Alnwick, less than 60 seconds later, this time stopping Latte Lath's free header.
A big chance came at the other end with 12 minutes of the game remaining. Colwill found space at the back post and was found by Chambers, but he couldn't hit the target with his close range header.
Michael Carrick's side saw more of the ball in the final exchanges, but City held strong in defence. The Bluebirds picking up a very much deserved hard-fought share of the points on the road.
FINAL SCORE: MIDDLESBROUGH 1-1 CARDIFF CITY
Middlesbrough: Glover, Dijksteel, Fry, van den Berg, Neto Borges (Engel 84'), Barlaser, Hackney, Doak, Azaz (Gilbert 75'), Burgzorg (Jones 67'), Latte Lath. Subs Not Used: Connor, Clarke, Edmundson, Hamilton, McCabe, McGree.
Cardiff City: Alnwick, Rinomhota, Goutas, Daland, O'Dowda, Chambers, Siopis, Robertson (Ralls 83'), R.Colwill (Meïté 79'), Tanner (Willock 65'), Ashford (Bagan 79'). Subs Not Used: Horvath, Fish, Ng, Kpakio, Kanga.