ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Middlesbrough 0
Leicester 0
LONDON • While 2016 was a year to remember for Leicester City and Middlesbrough, much work is still to be done if 2017 does not turn into an almighty dud.
Neither side deserved to win this scrap of a Premier League match at the Riverside Stadium yesterday and the clash will probably go down as one of the worst this season.
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OTHER RESULTS
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YESTERDAY
Everton 3 Southampton 0
Man City 2 Burnley 1
Sunderland 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom 3 Hull 1
West Ham v Man United
Late kick-off
Both goalkeepers barely had a save to make and the 0-0 result did not help either team's bid to move up the table.
Perhaps it was not surprising that this was no free-flowing affair, given Boro and Leicester have scored a combined 41 league goals, a figure equalled or bettered individually by Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
With Jamie Vardy completing his three-game suspension and Riyad Mahrez again disappointing, Leicester lacked a cutting edge and it was Boro who came closest to taking all three points.
Adama Traore had a penalty shout turned down in the 18th minute when he appeared to be impeded by Robert Huth right on the edge of the Leicester box. "We got lucky," Huth told Sky Sports.
In the closing stages, Gaston Ramirez squandered a golden chance to snatch victory when he lashed wide following a tame clearance by Wes Morgan.
The result still keeps both teams comfortably above the bottom three but the threat of relegation will continue to stalk them when they return to league action after next weekend's FA Cup third-round fixtures.
Worryingly for Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, the Foxes have now gone 12 away games without victory, stretching back to the 2-0 win at Sunderland last April.
THE GUARDIAN
