Michael Carrick has taken on the Sky Blues on five separate occasions, and is yet to claim a victory.

A wish for Middlesbrough in the New Year? What if you never had to play Coventry City again? Michael Carrick has managed Boro for 14 months, and in that time, he has faced the Sky Blues five times without a win.

The way the visitors dominated the second half, today’s performance at the Riverside was as excellent as Boro has played against Coventry under Carrick in sections, but they lost by a two-goal margin that could have been considerably bigger. After the break, Boro were constantly ripped apart, unable to capitalise on their advantage while leading prior to the half.

The Teessiders’ second-half collapse was partly due to a scarcity of options off the bench; Carrick was unable to effect any effective substitutions due to a confluence of injuries and international absences. The Boro manager is adamant that he does not want any “quick fixes” from the transfer market this month, but his squad is woefully thin below the starting XI.

Despite Josh Coburn’s lackluster performance in the last quarter of the match—he had opened the score with a header in the first half—Carrick felt obliged to keep him in the game. For the last five minutes, teenage Calum Kavanagh entered as a supporting striker, although his introduction seemed pointless.

If Boro had been rewarded for their early domination, things might have turned out differently. Carrick’s team should have scored before Coburn broke the deadlock just after the half-hour mark.

In the fourth minute, Isaiah Jones came within inches of scoring as he raced on to a through pass from Morgan Rogers, around goalkeeper Brad Collins and sliding in a goal that was expertly deflected clear by Bobby Thomas, who was coming around from behind.

Most of Boro’s best attacking moves were centred around Rogers, whose form has improved significantly over the past month or so. He set up Jones for another shot, which Jake Bidwell blocked, and Collins saved a follow-up effort after the Coventry keeper could only parry an initial effort from Sam Greenwood.

There was a sense of impending goal, and sure enough, Jones floated in an inviting cross from the right. After scoring as a substitute in Friday’s victory over Huddersfield, Coburn was included in the starting lineup for the first time since mid-October. With his header, the 21-year-old made it two goals in four days.

At that point, Coventry had not posed any threat, but four minutes after falling behind, the visitors equalized. Tom Glover stopped Thomas’ header from a corner, but Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was the only one to benefit from Lukas Engel’s clearance, and the Japanese winger skillfully finished low through a packed box.

The equalizer came against the flow of play, although Boro deserves credit for keeping up the pressure as the first half came to a close. Greenwood’s 25-yard attempt was deflected over the bar, and Collins then produced an even more impressive stop by diving to his left and turning Engel’s 20-yard attempt around the post.

In retrospect, Boro should have scored a second goal before half-time, as Coventry emerged into the second half with a fresh feeling of purpose.

Ellis Simms’ half-volley from the edge of the six-yard box gave the visitors a chance to take the lead, and a minute later, Boro’s defense was again breached, with the former Sunderland striker in the center of the action. Glover stopped Simms’ attempt from Callum O’Hare’s cross, but when the ball bounced back to the forward, he slid a square pass to Haji Wright, who had an easy two-yard tap-in to finish.

The most of the second half saw Boro behind the counter, and in the 69th, Coventry added a third goal. Sakamoto scored his second goal of the match with a close-range header after Bidwell crossed the ball near the byline while Boro’s defense was observing the ball.