CITY 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1
FA Barclays Premiership
15th May 2005
attendance 47,221
scorers
City Musampa(46)
Middlesbrough Hasselbaink(23)
Middlesbrough Schwarzer, Parnaby, Ehiogu, Southgate, Quedrue, Parlour, Boateng, Doriva, Zenden, Nemeth, Hasselbaink – subs Reizeger(84), Morrison(69), Downing(54), Cooper(unused), Knight(unused)
The game will be remembered for an amazing final five minutes which saw the Blues fail in their attempt to qualify for Europe, Hasselbaink blasted Middlesbrough in front in the first half however Kiki Musampa equalised for City just after half-time in a match City had to win to secure European football next season. With just two minutes to go and the game at stalemate Stuart Pearce made the extraordinary decision to bring off Claudio Reyna and onto the field came Nicky Weaver who replaced James in goal, and James then played up front as an outfield player. The City custodian seemed to cause mayhem in the Middlesbrough area and in a goal mouth scramble the ball was handled and City had a penalty in the last minute. Robbie Fowler stepped up to take the spot kick and even though he hit it low in the corner, Mark Schwarzer was the Boro hero saving the penalty and sending Middlesbrough into Europe and City had to be content with just a good mid-table finish to the season
From NEDUM ONUOHA, KICKING BACK
Middlesbrough were a good team, but their intentions were clear: needing only a point to qualify and prevent us from doing so, their goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was time-wasting from the moment he touched the ball in minute one. Then Middlesbrough scored, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink slapping a free kick in off the crossbar from 30 yards out. We were losing until the first minute of the second half, and following Kiki Musampa’s equaliser ‘Boro were as much on the back foot as you could ever imagine a team to be. They had no interest in doing anything going forward. We were pushing ut just couldn’t find a winner.
Then stuart Pearce contrived to produce one of the most surreal moments ever seen within a stadium, and something I wish I could go back to just to get a real feel for exactly how ridiculous it was. With two minutes of normal time to go, the substitute board went up. Claudio Reyna, a midfielder, was coming off, for… a goalkeeper? Despite Lon Maken, a striker, being on the bench, Stuart had decided to bring on Nicky Weaver, who’d go in goal so our original keeper David James could play up front for the rest of the game. That’s a goalkeeper coming on for an outfielder while the other goalkeeper puts on an outfielder’s shirt to try to win the game. It’s one of the most confusing things I’ve ever come across, especially given the fact it was the most important game we’d played that whole season. A win would get us into the UEFA Cup. No extra qualification, like a couple of years previously. The UEFA Cup, proper.
David James was no outfield player: he was there simply to cause chaos. He could barely kick the ball, although he was certainly pretty good at mis-timing tackles. There was one point when we won a corner, and I looked to the bench asking if I could go forward. They said no. This was with Nicky Weaver nearly on the halfway line and David James 40 yards further on in the penalty area. I think I’m the only player in football history to have two goalkeepers in their own team playing ahead of them, a particularly low moment considering I’d been a striker only a couple of years earlier!
In the end Stuart almost got away with making such a bizarre decision. From that corner, two minutes into the five alloted for injury time, we won a penalty. If Robbie Fowler scored, it would send us into Europe. He didn’t. It was the third keeper on the pitch who in the ninety second minute did what goalkeepers are supposed to do: Mark Schwarzer saved the penalty. The turmoil was eventually replaced by a real sadness, and I remember Robbie Fowler was desperately disappointed. He never missed penalties…
The game will be remembered for an amazing final five minutes which saw the Blues fail in their attempt to qualify for Europe, Hasselbaink blasted Middlesbrough in front in the first half however Kiki Musampa equalised for City just after half-time in a match City had to win to secure European football next season. With just two minutes to go and the game at stalemate Stuart Pearce made the extraordinary decision to bring off Claudio Reyna and onto the field came Nicky Weaver who replaced James in goal, and James then played up front as an outfield player. The City custodian seemed to cause mayhem in the Middlesbrough area and in a goal mouth scramble the ball was handled and City had a penalty in the last minute. Robbie Fowler stepped up to take the spot kick and even though he hit it low in the corner, Mark Schwarzer was the Boro hero saving the penalty and sending Middlesbrough into Europe and City had to be content with just a good mid-table finish to the season
