Middlesbrough 1-1 Stoke: Alvaro Negredo nets with his first shot on target but Boro are pegged back by Xherdan Shaqiri in Premier League opener
One decorated debutant did his job, but his compatriot at the other end of the park failed to do his.
Alvaro Negredo and Victor Valdes were team-mates in the victorious Spain squad at Euro 2012 and they were re-united at the Riverside this summer.
But while Negredo scored the opening goal on his return to the Premier League, goalkeeper Valdes was to blame as Xherdan Shaqiri equalised midway through the second half.
MATCH FACTS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-2-3-1): Valdes 5; Nsue 6, Barragan 7, Gibson 7, Friend; 7.5 Clayton 6.5, de Roon 6 (Forshaw 18, 6.5); Adomah 5.5, Ramirez 8 (Nugent 87), Downing 6.5; Negredo 6.5
Unused subs: Konstantopoulos, Rhodes, Fischer, Baptiste, Stuani.
Booked: Downing, Ramirez.
Goals: Negredo 11.
STOKE(4-2-3-1): Given 6; Bardsley 5, Shawcross 5.5, Wollscheid 5.5, Pieters 5.5; Whelan 6, Imbula 5; Shaqiri 6.5, Bojan 6 (Allen 78), Arnautovic 6.5; Diouf 5 (Walters 68).
Unused subs: Muniesa, Adam, Cameron, Crouch, Haugaard.
Booked: Shawcross, Bardsley, Given, Wollscheid, Arnautovic.
Goals: Shaqiri 67.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire) 6
Attendance: 32,110
His error - allowing himself to be wrong-footed from the Stoke playmaker’s curling free-kick - was to cost Middlesbrough their deserved lead and, come full-time, they were left clinging to a point.
But Boro, who boasted the game’s outstanding player in the form of Uruguayan Gaston Ramirez, should have been out of sight by the hour mark.
Manager Aitor Karanka spun on his heels and punched the balmy Teesside air at the sight of Albert Adomah forgoing a chance to double their advantage, and within minutes Shaqiri had levelled.
But the Spanish boss had calmed by the time it came to post-match reflection.
‘I can’t be disappointed, especially with the performance and attitude of my team. Maybe we should have won, but we can’t forget that three months ago we were playing in Championship and Stoke were ninth in the Premier League for the third year in a row,’ he said.
Negredo took just 11 minutes to score with his first effort on goal, just as he did for Manchester City three years ago, using a combination of neck and shoulder to bundle in from close range after Ramirez has recycled Adomah’s deep centre.
‘It was especially important for him to score,’ added Karanka, who has signed the 30-year-old on a season-long loan from Valencia.
‘When he arrived I said he needed tor recover his confidence. He won the Premier League two years ago, he can’t have forgotten how to play. He is an amazing signing for us but he needs to keep working hard.’
Karanka, though, refused to criticise Valdes, the free-transfer addition from Manchester United.
‘Victor is a top keeper, he is helping us a lot and he has my confidence,’ he said.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes offered a more technical explanation for Shaqiri’s dipping effort squirming between the World Cup-winning keeper and his post.
‘Shaq does that in training every day. His angle of approach makes if difficult for keepers,’ he said.
‘Valdes felt he was going to the opposite side and made that half step (that way) - and that’s all it takes to prevent him from saving it.’
Ramirez struck the woodwork twice before half-time and his classy display showed just why Southampton invested £12million in him four years ago.
Shaqiri, though, is another £12m player rebuilding his reputation, and Hughes added: ‘It’s a big year for Shaq, he senses that.
‘He has the benefit of a full season in the Premier League now and we will reap the rewards of that I’m sure.’
One decorated debutant did his job, but his compatriot at the other end of the park failed to do his.
Alvaro Negredo and Victor Valdes were team-mates in the victorious Spain squad at Euro 2012 and they were re-united at the Riverside this summer.
But while Negredo scored the opening goal on his return to the Premier League, goalkeeper Valdes was to blame as Xherdan Shaqiri equalised midway through the second half.
MATCH FACTS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-2-3-1): Valdes 5; Nsue 6, Barragan 7, Gibson 7, Friend; 7.5 Clayton 6.5, de Roon 6 (Forshaw 18, 6.5); Adomah 5.5, Ramirez 8 (Nugent 87), Downing 6.5; Negredo 6.5
Unused subs: Konstantopoulos, Rhodes, Fischer, Baptiste, Stuani.
Booked: Downing, Ramirez.
Goals: Negredo 11.
STOKE(4-2-3-1): Given 6; Bardsley 5, Shawcross 5.5, Wollscheid 5.5, Pieters 5.5; Whelan 6, Imbula 5; Shaqiri 6.5, Bojan 6 (Allen 78), Arnautovic 6.5; Diouf 5 (Walters 68).
Unused subs: Muniesa, Adam, Cameron, Crouch, Haugaard.
Booked: Shawcross, Bardsley, Given, Wollscheid, Arnautovic.
Goals: Shaqiri 67.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire) 6
Attendance: 32,110
His error - allowing himself to be wrong-footed from the Stoke playmaker’s curling free-kick - was to cost Middlesbrough their deserved lead and, come full-time, they were left clinging to a point.
But Boro, who boasted the game’s outstanding player in the form of Uruguayan Gaston Ramirez, should have been out of sight by the hour mark.
Manager Aitor Karanka spun on his heels and punched the balmy Teesside air at the sight of Albert Adomah forgoing a chance to double their advantage, and within minutes Shaqiri had levelled.
But the Spanish boss had calmed by the time it came to post-match reflection.
‘I can’t be disappointed, especially with the performance and attitude of my team. Maybe we should have won, but we can’t forget that three months ago we were playing in Championship and Stoke were ninth in the Premier League for the third year in a row,’ he said.
Negredo took just 11 minutes to score with his first effort on goal, just as he did for Manchester City three years ago, using a combination of neck and shoulder to bundle in from close range after Ramirez has recycled Adomah’s deep centre.
‘It was especially important for him to score,’ added Karanka, who has signed the 30-year-old on a season-long loan from Valencia.
‘When he arrived I said he needed tor recover his confidence. He won the Premier League two years ago, he can’t have forgotten how to play. He is an amazing signing for us but he needs to keep working hard.’
Karanka, though, refused to criticise Valdes, the free-transfer addition from Manchester United.
‘Victor is a top keeper, he is helping us a lot and he has my confidence,’ he said.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes offered a more technical explanation for Shaqiri’s dipping effort squirming between the World Cup-winning keeper and his post.
‘Shaq does that in training every day. His angle of approach makes if difficult for keepers,’ he said.
‘Valdes felt he was going to the opposite side and made that half step (that way) - and that’s all it takes to prevent him from saving it.’
Ramirez struck the woodwork twice before half-time and his classy display showed just why Southampton invested £12million in him four years ago.
Shaqiri, though, is another £12m player rebuilding his reputation, and Hughes added: ‘It’s a big year for Shaq, he senses that.
‘He has the benefit of a full season in the Premier League now and we will reap the rewards of that I’m sure.’
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