John Mikel Obi was part of Middlesbrough squad that grabbed a valuable away win at Blackburn Rovers yesterday.
The former Tianjin Teda midfielder who made his fourth start out of the five he has clocked for the English Championship side played all 90 minutes in the encounter at Ewood Park.
Although Britt Assombalonga’s 19th minute header made the difference for Boro to earn all three points, Mikel, no doubt has stamped his authority in the middle of the team to earn the respect of Manager Tony Pulis.
Mikel was key in the 3-4-2-1 formation adopted by Pulis. The former Chelsea star played a deep-lying role.
The 31-year-old who racked up two dribbles, made one tackle, struck one shot and had a pass success rate of ninety percent, as per who scored earned the plaudits of his club fans in magnificent style.
Middlesbrough fans are drooling over Mikel Obi since his sensational transfer to the English Championship side so much so they have nicknamed him a Rolls Royce, Britain’s state-of-the-art car.
Speaking at the post-match, Pulis however was worried that his wards could only put away just one out of the 27 shots on target.
“I’m pleased. I don’t want to take the gloss off it because I thought we were very good today, but to get 27 shots on goal and just score one goal is something I’ve kept harping on about since I joined the football club.
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“We’ve got to be more clinical in front of goal. We had really good opportunities to get the second one, and if you get the second one it’s game over and you can relax a little bit.
“What we’ve got to do is replicate the intensity we showed against Leeds for home games for the rest of the season and that gives us a chance,” he concluded.
While the win moved Boro to fifth spot in the Championship standing on 54 points from 32 games, it was bad news for Blackburn who are stuck in the 14th position. It also means fourth consecutive defeat for the home team.
