A Carrick first, sympathy after defensive nightmare & hero impressed vs Leeds United

Middlesbrough were edged out 4-3 by Leeds United in a chaotic and brilliant game at the Riverside.

Here are the main talking points from the game:

WHERE TO START….

Where to start? Maybe right at the very end, with Daniel Farke with his head in his hands, Michael Carrick geeing up the crowd and Seny Dieng dashing up for a corner. That was after Emmanuel Latte Lath had scored the game’s seventh goal and made it 4-3, which is how it finished.

Never has Carrick let his fury show as much as he did at full-time, darting on to the pitch to fume with Tony Harrington and following the referee down the tunnel, seething with the first half offside goal that went against his side and also irked by the lack of added time in the second half. While Carrick seethed, Leeds celebrated.

When Sky picked this game for Monday night television coverage, they no doubt had the Championship title race in mind and perhaps the prospect – Leeds were flying at the time – of Daniel Farke’s side securing promotion at the Riverside.

Alternatively, they might have just hoped for a repeat of the basketball game when these sides met earlier this season. If that was the case, the selectors won’t have been disappointed. The first half was bonkers. Five goals, three for Leeds, one a penalty, one a gift, one clearly offside. For Boro, an Isaiah Jones opener and a brilliant strike from Emmanuel Latte Lath – more on him later – to make it 2-2. And the second half followed suit, breathing space for Leeds after Crysencio Summerville’s second before Latte Lath’s second and Boro’s third. For the neutral, what a watch. It was, as Farke described, "a basketball game".

One question coming in was whether Michael Carrick would follow Sunderland’s lead and try to shut Leeds out. Farke’s side have twice fired blanks this season against the Black Cats, who played a back three. If there was any temptation to switch system, Carrick resisted. The result? Entertaining chaos. Would Boro have been better off shutting up shop? Maybe. But that isn't how Carrick wants his side to play and isn't how he wanted to approach the final weeks of the season.

Still, you can't defend as Boro did and expect to beat Leeds. They only allowed the visitors five shots on target but four resulted in goals, all avoidable. The frustration for Boro was twice conceding shortly after their goals. Leeds headed for the Riverside under immense pressure and anxiety would have soon set in had Boro managed to frustrate them after their opener or their equaliser.

DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE

Carrick was forced into his two changes, with Luke Ayling ineligible to face his parent club and Lukas Engel missing because of personal reasons. Ayling in particular was sorely missed, the case to sign the Leeds loanee further strengthened without him kicking a ball.

It’s unfair to judge Anfernee Dijksteel too harshly considering this was his first league start since December and the fact he was up against the league’s Player of the Year in Crysensio Summerville.

But the full-back’s lack of football told. His sloppy foul led to the award of the Leeds penalty and he was caught out for the away side’s third goal, though Gnonto was clearly offside. Dijksteel was then sucked in and followed the ball for the fourth goal, leaving Summerville free to cut in and find the far corner.

With Ayling available again for the last two games, this might have been Dijksteel’s last chance this season to impress Carrick and, given he’s spent this campaign on the fringes, it would be no surprise at all to see him move on in the summer.

Dijksteel was by no means alone in giving a quality Leeds attack a helping hand, though. Luke Thomas – who played a crucial role in Boro’s opener, was then caught ball watching for Patrick Bamford’s goal, but he still should have been bailed out by Seny Dieng, who was punished for his hesitation in failing to deal with Junior Firpo’s cross.

HERO’S RETURN AND STRIKER’S FINE FORM

Eighteen years on from twice being a Thursday night hero, Massimo Maccarone was back on Teesside and introduced to the Boro fans before kick-off.

The Italian received a standing ovation as he made his way onto the pitch and took in the applause from all four stands, before grabbing the mic and telling Boro’s fans: “I’ll never forget you, I love you.”

The former Boro striker then saw the club’s current number nine continue his fine form with an excellent first half strike to briefly draw the home side level and an instinctive late second. Maccarone must have been impressed by Emmanuel Latte Lath.

That's now seven goals in six games for the striker and nine in his last 10. Only nine players have scored more Championship goals this season – not bad when you consider he only bagged two in his first 12 games after his summer move from Atalanta and missed two months through injury.

PLAY-OFF HOPES OFFICIALLY OVER

This wasn’t a promotion party like Burnley’s last season but the sight of rivals celebrating on their own turf will again hurt Boro, whose attention now turns to next season.

In truth, that’s been the case for a fortnight or so. The numbers might not have made it official but there was an acceptance after the Hull and Ipswich draws that the top six was out of Boro’s reach. And this was the night that became a certainty.

But it's not hard to find positives from both the recent nine-game unbeaten run and tonight.

The aim now is to build on those, in the remaining two games, the summer and next season As Carrick discussed last week, this summer should bring stability and continuity compared to last year’s upheaval.