Middlesbrough suffered a pretty disheartening defeat after losing 2-0 against Barnsley at Oakwell.

Goals from Alex Mowatt and Daryl Dike made the difference on a poor afternoon which offered supporters precious little to cheer about after tuning in at home.

Here's our take on events this afternoon.

Match recap

Middlesbrough had the first opportunity of the game as George Saville intercepted a back pass but was unable to place his header past the goalkeeper.

In truth it was a fairly poor, but Barnsley got their first chance as Cauley Woodrow fired an effort wide of the mark.

The Tykes went close again when Michal Helik's deflected strike was well saved down low by Marcus Bettinelli.

Middlesbrough had the first effort of the second half too when a Paddy McNair effort was deflected out for a corner.

Duncan Watmore then had a chance moments later when some neat work saw him free in the area however there was no one in the box to convert his cross.

Middlesbrough lack of clear-cut chances came back to haunt them just after the hour-mark when Alex Mowatt's in-swinging corner evaded Bettinelli and found the back of the net. A very poor goal to concede.

Warnock brought on Britt Assombalonga, Ashley Fletcher and Yannick Bolasie to try and get into the game.

Barnsley had another opportunity soon after through a Callum Styles volley but Bettinelli was equal to that one.

But they didn't have to wait long as the man that everyone is talking about, Daryl Dike, headed home at the back post to make it 2-0 after a stunning volleyed cross from Callum Brittain.

The rest of the match was a non-event from a Boro point of view as Neil Warnock's side went through the motions and fell to another disappointing result.

Final score: Barnsley 2-0 Middlesbrough

Match verdict

Middlesbrough's media team may as well have handed the script out to supporters ahead of the trip to Oakwell. We all knew what was going to happen.

Barnsley are renowned for their robust defending and direct style of play, so Neil Warnock knew what he was getting himself into.

While the Teessiders were equally as solid and unspectacular as the hosts it seemed clear that the match would only go one way. After all, Boro are hardly the most potent attacking side in the Championship, are they?

Middlesbrough have zero attacking presence at the moment and so it seemed that they best they could hope for was a 0-0, but with Barnsley having one of the best strikers in the league and the Teessiders seemingly having one of the shakiest goalkeepers on current form, it looked like a recipe for disaster.

A 2-0 defeat won't have huge ramifications for the club - mainly because our season was effectively over weeks ago.

But if supporters are going to have anything to look forward to when we (hopefully) are allowed back into the Riverside next term then we're going to need to see more in the final weeks of the season.

Whether it's young players getting a chance or simply 11 players who are going out to win a match, the next few games will surely shape the fans' aspirations going into a big season next time around.

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