MIDDLESBROUGH: Ahmed “Mido Hossam rescued a 1-1 draw for Middlesbrough against West Ham as the Egypt striker came off the bench to score a late equalizer at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.
Gareth Southgate s side looked to be heading for a third home defeat of the season when Hayden Mullins gave West Ham the lead with his first league goal for nearly two years.
But Southgate sent on Mido midway through the second half and it proved an inspired decision as the powerful target man leveled with seven minutes to play.
After four successive defeats, Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola made four changes to the team beaten at Manchester United in midweek, with Australia defender Lucas Neill returning from a virus and youngsters Freddie Sears and Jack Collinson also included.
Sears is regarded as one of West Ham s bright young prospects and he underlined his potential by dispossessing Andrew Taylor before shooting just wide in the ninth minute.
But West Ham took a deserved lead in the 21st minute after Luis Boa Morte broke down the left and fed the ball to Mullins. The midfielder mis-hit his first attempt, but regained possession and lashed a volley past Boro goalkeeper Ross Turnbull.
Mullins almost added a second in the 40th minute when he lashed a long range shot at goal which just cleared the crossbar.
West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green was forced to make his first real save moments before the interval when he tipped over a cross-shot from Stewart Downing.
A tremendous piece of play two minutes later almost saw Zola s side double their advantage early in the second half
After neat build-up play, Craig Bellamy was picked out by a deep cross to the right edge of the penalty area and his cushioned header dropped into the path of Collison, whose shot was blocked by Turnbull.
Downing s superb cross-field pass set up a good chance for Gary O Neil but Green parried the midfielder s shot.
Middlesbrough had a goal disallowed for offside when Justin Hoyte headed in Taylor s cross.
But the hosts equalized in the 83rd minute when Mido was fouled on the edge of the area. The Egyptian took the resulting free-kick and drilled a low shot past Green.
Mido then broke down the left edge of the box three minutes later and forced Green to make a smart save.
Turnbull made a superb double save in injury time from Collison and then Lee Bowyer from close range to preserve the point for Middlesbrough. -AFP
