Middlesbrough came from behind three times to draw 3-3 with Plymouth Argyle on a day where their defending left a lot to be desired, but their determination to take something from the game was at least rewarded.

On the weekend before Christmas, over 1,700 Boro supporters journeyed for Boro’s longest away trip of the season. They won’t want to see their side’s defending again, but were at least treated to a spectacle as Jonny Howson, Hayden Hackney and Emmanuel Latte Lath fired the three Boro equalises to earn a point.

Michael Carrick made three changes to his Boro side after last weekend’s win over Millwall. Anfernee Dijksteel replaced the injured Luke Ayling at right-back while Riley McGree was back in at the expense of Delano Burgzorg after a chest infection. Emmanuel Latte Lath, meanwhile, dropped to the bench after his agent’s comments about a January exit this week, with Tommy Conway starting.

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Boro started well in the game but struggled to create much of note. They struggled to build much momentum as an early injury for Michael Obafemi caused a couple of stoppages, but they at least asserted a level of early control in the game.

That was until the 15th minute when the home side enjoyed their first attack and, buoyed by that, didn’t really let their grip of the first half go from there. Boro suddenly couldn’t protect the ball as the home side found much joy down the wings, doubling up on Boro’s full-backs who appeared to have little support from their wide men.

Ryan Hardie was the first Plymouth man to almost benefit as Bali Mumba played a clever one-two to get to the byline beyond Neto Borges. Hardie turned his low, near-post cutback towards goal but it was just the wrong side of the near post.

The Plymouth pressure continued though, with many nearly moments and crosses from wide areas that just didn’t have that final touch. It felt like something was coming though, as Boro struggled to wrestle back a grip of the match.

And indeed it did come. Moments after George Edmundson appeared lucky not to concede a penalty after overly-casual play from Hayden Hackney on the edge of his own box, the hosts found their lead.

Boro initially cleared a free-kick but only to the edge of their own box. Edmundson was the man to charge out after it but when the ball found Brendan Galloway on the left, that left Boro out of sorts in the box and Lewis Gibson had a free header from close range to grab a deserved opener.

With as much as Boro could muster at the other end a smart finish from Tommy Conway that was ruled out for offside, they were very fortunate to go in at the break just the one behind. Very similar to his two big saves last weekend, Sol Brynn was fast off his line and making himself big to make a block as Edmundson almost gifted Plymouth an early Christmas present when trying to head a ball that landed at his feet.

Boro’s start to the second half almost saw them two-down again. Almost from kick-off they gifted possession back to Plymouth. On the transition, the ball came in from the wide area and Darko Gyabi held off Edmundson but couldn’t direct his acrobatic effort on target.

Those two missed opportunities either side of the break looked pivotal just five minutes later when Boro found an equaliser. Moments after volleying one wide of the target, Howson stood well-placed to capitalise on a half-cleared cross from Ben Doak. The Boro skipper’s half-volley took a big deflection, but was hit with purpose into the bodies and Howson got his reward.

Just moments later, Boro could have been ahead - and they perhaps should have been. Much better after the restart with the ball, they executed a brilliant counter, with Azaz playing Doak in behind. As he ran through and approached the penalty area, he decided to try and slide across to Conway, rather than go alone. It didn’t pay off as Plymouth got bodies back and killed the attack. A real waste from the Liverpool loanee, lacking a ruthless edge in that key moment.

At this moment there was another lengthy stoppage as Ryan Hardie fell victim to the Plymouth injury curse. Rather than kill Boro’s momentum like in the first half though, they were straight back onto the front foot from the restart. Conway did well down the left before teeing Hackney up. He somehow missed the target.

There’s something about this fixture which brings out the extraordinary. After a 3-3 draw last term, suddenly the goals started to flow faster than the rain in Devon. There were four goals within 12 crazy minutes as 1-1 quickly became 3-3.

Plymouth struck first. Boro’s problems out wide continued, particularly from their left and Darko Gyabi profited as Mustapha Bundu got away down the flank when Edmundson lost his footing on the retreat.

Boro were quickly level though. Hackney made amends for his earlier miss as Burgzorg made an instant impact from the bench. He slipped the Redcar midfielder in behind and Hackney made sure with his second hit after his first was saved by the legs of Daniel Grimshaw.

Boro were only level for four minutes though. This time it came from their right, but the wide problems were one and the same. Doak left Dijksteel exposed two on one and when Plymouth played around him with ease, before the cross found Bundu unmarked to fire home.

If Boro’s defending was a bit of a horror show, they were at least dogged in wanting a result from the game. Winning a corner in the 84th minute, it was another sub in Latte Lath who fired home a third Boro equaliser after Rav van den Berg headed back across goal.

With stoppages and goals, there were nine minutes of added time. Boro were the side who appeared to be pushing hardest for the game’s seventh goal. It didn’t ever come for either side though and it was honours even at full-time in another thrilling fixture for the natural that produced its second consecutive 3-3 draw.

Boro won’t want to see their defending back in this one and will have to show vast improvement on that front going forward. They at least showed great character to ensure, despite going behind three times, they left Devon with something.