Key events
Manchester City lead Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final, 1-0, the goal from Bernardo Silva.
35 min: A lightning break by Coventry and Hamer is suddenly in, almost one on one, rushing on to a flick … but Giles is on hand to hack the ball clear. Good defending, it looked like Hamer was going to have the space to get a shot in there.
31 min: McFadzean commits another foul with Boro moving forwards, getting stuck into Archer from behind. The home fans want a booking but there is nothing doing.
29 min: Mowatt floats in the free-kick. Boro have a shot blocked, then Gyokeres races into space on the counter, into the opposition half, but he is crowded out eventually.
28 min: Kelly fouls Akpom of Boro in an advanced area. More danger for Coventry …
27 min: McGree now slams a powerful shot from distance that flicks off a defender and out for a corner. McGree again gets on the ball and floats a cross to the far post but no one can get on the end of it.
26 min: McGree pumps the ball to the far post for Boro, looking for the run of Forss. Bidwell does a good job to head the ball out for a corner.
23 min: In the Coventry goal, Wilson is put under pressure by the pressing of the Boro front line, but he neatly gets out of trouble with a pass down the middle to the nearest sky blue shirt.
There is still plenty of noise from the crowd, and they have had a decent amount of excitement with chances at both ends. But who will find the breakthrough?
21 min: So it’s goalless, tonight and on aggregate, with nearly half the first half gone … something about this just screams ludicrous late drama, doesn’t it?
19 min: Akpom is OK, after a fairly lengthy spell of treatment out on the pitch. That break in play has taken the fizz out of the game though – it had been relentless for the first 17 minutes.
17 min: Akpom is fouled by Sheaf, a meaty challenge that leaves the forward prone on the turf and needing treatment.
15 min: Another defensive mix-up: Steffen passes out to Smith, but Hamer nips in and gets away from the home defence. Smith pulls him back, and is booked. The resulting free-kick is pumped to the far post, but Middlesbrough deal with it.
12 min: There’s nearly a back pass-related howler from Coventry, now, but the goalie Wilson comes out to the edge of his area to hammer the ball away.
9 min: This is very lively. Akpom now escapes down the right wing for the hosts, and tries a cross, but it’s blocked at the near post. Loads of energy and intent from both sides.
7 min: Now Gyokeres is nearly in at the other end, for Coventry! Steffen has to tidy up after a very poor, underhit back pass by Smith. The goalie does exceptionally well to stay on his feet and prevent Gyokeres from rounding him after the forward sprinted after the loose pass.
5 min: Archer now threatens on the edge of the box for Boro, but is tackled well by McFadzean.
4 min: Middlesbrough so nearly score! They break down the left wing and Giles pings a good low ball into the middle. There’s a bit of pinball around the six-yard box but no home player can get a meaningful contact on it.
3 min: Coventry on the front foot early on. But no clear sight of goal just yet.
“Should this one be dubbed “The Sir Alex Ferguson’s Saviours” Derby?” emails Admir Pajic.
“Mark Robins, the scorer of the goal that saved Ferguson’s job at Man Utd in 1990, v Michael Carrick, the midfield lynchpin whose arrival in summer 2006 injected new energy to Man Utd’s engine room which eventually led to three league titles in a row.”
First half kick off!
Go!
Akpom has 28 goals this season, 21 at home.
Here we go then. The teams are on the pitch, the crowd is making a lot of noise.
Let’s get ready to rumble!
A brief reminder that Barry Glendenning has the Champions League action here, if you want to keep tabs on that:
“Good evening from Middlesbrough!” emails Paul Fletcher.
“It’s hard not to be nervous when you’re about to start the second of a possible three cup finals, when chaos reigns and everyone wants their hands on the prize … but hopefully Fortress Riverside will be bouncing, and that will feed into the performance and the Choo Choo Chuba train will edge himself closer to the mythical 30 goals target! Keeeemon lads, UTB!!”
Mark Robins has a chat and is asked about his new contract (which according to the club website is agreed, and will be signed later this week): “We’re looking at the game. Everyone knows how I feel about the club and it’s nice to be offered a four-year contract … we didn’t have enough of the ball in the first leg.
“Can we hurt them more, can we have a bit more possession? Hopefully we can start right, start fast. All to look forward to, all to play for.”
The Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick speaks to Sky Sports: how can they get a result tonight? “Doing what we’re good at,” he says. “Play to our strengths. It’s what we know, what we trust in …
“We’re really looking forward to it, it’s a great chance for the boys to go and express themselves, and hopefully win the game.
“There’s a lot comes into consideration when you’re picking the team … a bit of freshness, a bit of a change, a bit of a tweak. It’s not just about who starts, it’s about who finishes the game too, so hopefully we got the balance right.”
Mark Robins has agreed a new four-year contract at Coventry, it was announced today, and you can read all about it here on the club website.
A mere 30 mins or so to wait until kick-off. Don’t forget – you can email me or tweet with any thoughts. How are the Middlesbrough and Coventry fans feeling out there? Don’t be a stranger.
Hat’s the way to do it:
While we await kick-off, coming up at 8pm, here are some newsy bits from the Premier League, where they say the streets are paved with gold:
Teams
Marcus Forss comes into Middlesbrough’s lineup for Isaiah Jones on the right, in the one change made by Michael Carrick. Two changes for Coventry: Ben Sheaf and Jamie Allen come in for Matty Godden and Josh Eccles.
Team news soon, so says Coventry’s Twitter:
Peter Lansley was present at the first leg in Coventry:
In Champions League news, Barry Glendenning has Manchester City v Real Madrid here for you:
Preamble
Tonight’s high-stakes match is beautifully poised, at least in the sense that not much happened in the goalless first leg. Coventry City have a chance of achieving a remarkable, Nottingham Forest-esque run from the bottom of the Championship to the Premier League in the space of a few months, but their manager Mark Robins believes Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough are comfortable favourites for Wembley following Sunday’s stalemate.
On the balance of play at the Coventry Building Society Arena, Robins has a point: Middlesbrough’s Chuba Akpom had the best chances on the day and arguably should have given his team a first-leg lead to take back to the Riverside.
As it stands, it’s all square and all to play for in the battle to face Luton in the playoff final at Wembley in 10 days’ time. Team news and more coming up.
Kick-off: 8pm
