Michael Carrick had to watch his side come away from Home Park with just a point despite going from 2-1 behind to lead 3-2 in what was their second visit to Devon this week.
The game finished 3-3, but Carrick believes that one decision in particular could have changed the course of the game in Boro’s favour.
Whilst leading 3-2, Middlesbrough launched an attack, with Isaiah Jones angling his run off the back of Argyle defender Mickel Miller. Realising that the Boro winger was seemingly through on goal, Miller dragged Jones down on the very edge of the area. The momentum took both players sliding into the penalty box, with the defender only receiving a yellow card, but Carrick felt it deserved more.
“Yeah, I just don’t understand it.” Said the boro boss speaking in an interview via BBC Radio Tees Sport
He continued, “I haven’t spoken to the referee myself or the fourth official. Speaking to our bench there, obviously they’re about ten yards behind me, I’m told he said to them that he was running away from goal, towards the touchline, so he’s obviously got that wrong because his angle was heading direct to goal, it probably was outside the box but I don’t really know what else you have got to do to get a red card.
Massive moment
“So, yeah, I’m pretty baffled with that one, it is a massive moment in the game, we were in a really good place in the game at that time, it probably would have finished the game off for us.”
The game was played in difficult conditions with torrential downpours making for an interesting watch, but both teams enjoyed spells of excellent attacking football. It was Boro who made the early breakthrough with Josh Coburn getting the rewards his recent form has deserved with a near post finish. But Plymouth hit back twice in the space of four minutes to go in at the break 2-1 in front.
It told a familiar story for Boro who have struggled to replicate their second half showings in the first part of matches and have the unwanted statistic of having the worst first half record in the Championship.
“It was tough in many ways”admitted a frustrated Carrick, who still felt that despite, “not starting particularly well”, they created plenty, and in the second half they enjoyed much more of the ball and did enough to win the game.
Another goal from Coburn, who tapped home a saved penalty after Sam Greenwood was felled in the box and a goal from Greenwood himself, should have been enough to claim the victory, but with little over ten minutes left, a bouncing Plymouth free-kick from the wide right position beat everybody, including Seny Dieng who could only watch it nestle in the far corner after evading the plethora of bodies in the box. It meant Boro had to share the spoils with their south west opponents, much to the disdain of Michael Carrick.