CarlingNet - No 1 for Match Reports

Middlesbrough v Tottenham 19/10/96 3.00

Middlesbrough           (0) 0 Tottenham               (2) 3 FT
                              Sheringham 21,90
                              Fox 23

Boro fans are revolting after their £21 million forward line was yet again sabotaged by the worst defence in the Premiership.

Teddy Sheringham and Ruel Fox plundered first-half goals two minutes apart, and then the England ace put the seal on injury-hit Tottenham's third away win of the season in the 89th minute.

It bolstered chairman Alan Sugar in his renewed feud with Terry Venables. The moral? Big spenders do not always prosper.

Bryan Robson has speculated with the best of them but has now accumulated just one point from 12 and faces another winter of discontent if he does not act quickly to halt the Teessiders' new slide.

Last season a promising start to Premiership life in their new Riverside home (which recorded a record 30,215 attendance today) was wrecked by a mid-season nightmare which brought just three wins in 22 League games.

The arrival of Fabrizio Ravanelli and Brazilian star Emerson has given Boro one of the most exciting attacks in Europe, reinforcing former Spurs and current England powerpack Nick Barmby and the equally diminutive Junino.

But at the back Boro are even more of a disaster than their Tyneside neighbours, and gave Spurs' parsimonious attack every encouragement to kick-start their season.

Goalkeeper Alan Miller must take the blame for the first goal in the 21st minute, after Steve Vickers fouled Sheringham some 30 yards from goal.

The England striker is one of Glenn Hoddle's dead ball specialists, which should have warned Miller to stay on his line. Instead he temptingly positioned himself forward and was left grasping thin air as the long-range curler swept over him into the top left-hand corner.

A year ago Spurs became the first away side to take all three Riverside points by winning the midfield battle and outflanking Boro, getting in behind.

Two minutes later the tactic paid off again, David Howells getting out right to sweep the ball over, Sheringham dummying the easily-distracted central defence to allow little Ruel Fox to stoop to conquer with an unchallenged close-in header, his first goal since March.

Robson sent on Phil Stamp for Whyte and switched from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2, but the horse had already bolted. And if Miller had not saved in full flight from Fox soon after, Spurs would have been out of sight by the break.

Boro, who had a Juninho strike wiped out after two minutes because Fabrizio Ravanelli was offside, could not find a way back thanks to the impeccable performances of Sol Campbell and goalkeeper Ian Walker.

Watched by Glenn Hoddle's assistant John Gorman, Campbell stood up nervelessly to his fleet-footed opponents as Boro besieged Walker's goal in the second half.

For all the pressure from the expensive and cosmopolitan forward line, Walker did not have a serious save to make until the 77th minute, getting down quickly at his near post to spoon aside a crisp Ravanelli shot on the turn.

Spurs always looked more likely to embellish the scoreline on the break, Armstrong sending a shot just past the post.

He then setting up Sheringham with a quick free kick while Boro were still protesting. Miller must have thought his legs had left him a hero at the last as he blocked away the Euro 96 star's shot.

But with the last knockings, Fox curled in a cross from the right and Sheringham had the final word with a precision header, only his third goal of an injury-disrupted start to the season.