'Impossible' miss from Kanu spoils Robson's return

West Bromwich Albion 1 - Middlesbrough

A giant screen replayed vintage moments from Bryan Robson's playing days before the game, a bubbly perm popping up to score time and again amid flying studs and flailing arms. No such pressures encumbered Nwankwo Kanu yesterday when the chance came to give Robson an unbeaten return to West Bromwich Albion, but one of the misses of any season left the new manager shaking his head in disbelief.

Kanu, meeting Geoff Horsfield's low cross a yard out, had only to tap the ball in to prevent Robson's former club, Middlesbrough, from recording a third consecutive Premiership away victory. Somehow, the Nigerian contrived to sky the ball into the Smethwick Road stand, ensuring that the Teessiders rose to fourth place while Albion remain in the relegation zone.

Middlesbrough had taken a fortuitous first-half lead through Darren Purse's own goal, only for Robert Earnshaw to equalise within minutes. What proved to be the winner came from Bolo Zenden, the creative half of the visitors' all-Dutch central midfield, shortly after the break.

But such moments were eclipsed by Kanu's carelessness. Robson sighed: "It seemed far easier to put it in the net than over. It looked impossible." The man who succeeded him at the Riverside Stadium, Steve McClaren, was more pleasantly surprised: "I don't know how he missed that. I couldn't believe it."

That said, Middlesbrough's success underlined how well McClaren has built on Robson's legacy. By grafting Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka and Ray Parlour on to a team built around resilient performers such as Gareth Southgate and George Boateng, he has created a well-balanced unit that looks more capable of scoring than in previous years.

Stewart Downing's emergence has also given them a new dimension. The 20-year-old winger is evidently deemed unready for full international football by Sven Goran Eriksson. Given England's long-standing problems on the left, that situation is sure to change if Downing continues to provide the crosses he laid on here.

Robson, however, should not despair about the quality of his inheritance from Gary Megson. The squad may compare unfavourably to the one in which he started 30 years ago; built around Laurie Cunningham, John Wile and Tony Brown, they were arguably as good as any in Albion's history. Yet a positive first-half display proved there is potential for him to develop.

Kanu, ironically in view of what was to follow, showed great deftness in tight situations, while Cosmin Contra, handed his Premiership debut after being overlooked by Megson, was a revelation. The former Milan midfielder made one equaliser and had an important part in what should have been a second.

During an opening half that McClaren admitted was "too open" for his liking, Hasselbaink had already headed a Downing corner against the bar. The roles were soon reversed, the midfielder feeding the former Chelsea striker on the right, from where his driven cross was turned in by Purse as he sought to slide the ball clear.

Contra's weaving run and precise cut-back enabled Earnshaw to side-foot his first home goal and reward Albion's pressure. That ought to have been the cue for the home side to push forward in search of only their second victory in 13 matches since they were promoted.

Instead, Middlesbrough seized the initiative when Zenden glanced a looping header beyond Russell Hoult from Downing's cross, and appeared unlikely to lose it until Robson sent on two fresh forwards and went to a 4-3-1-2 formation. Kanu switched to "the hole". Soon he would be wishing one would open up in the ground and swallow him.

Goals: Purse (31 og) 0-1; Earnshaw (37) 1-1; Zenden (52) 1-2.

West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): Hoult; Scimeca, Purse, Moore, Clement; Contra, Johnson, Greening, Gera (Horsfield, 60); Kanu, Earnshaw (Hulse, 60). Substitutes not used: Kuszczak (gk), Gaardsoe, Koumas.

Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Schwarzer; McMahon, Riggott, Southgate, Queudrue; Parlour, Boateng, Zenden (Doriva, 89), Downing; Hasselbaink, Viduka. Substitutes not used: Nash (gk), Cooper, Morrison, Job.

Referee: S Dunn (Gloucestershire).

Man of the match: Downing.

Attendance: 24,008.