For the first time, both Egyptians at Boro Mido and Shawky started in the same startting line-up. Boro almost ended the game in a win but the referee thought otherwise as he awarded Villa a controversial penalty kick in the 2nd half from which they scored the equalizer. Both Mido and Shawky played well. Mido missed two easy chances but he won plenty of headers and made a great clearence off the line. On the other hand, Shawky did great defensively in the first half and almost scored twice from two long range shots.

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Shawky did extremely well especially in first half

Mido and Shawky in the same line-up:

The home defeat and exit from FA cup at the hands of Cardiff City forced Gareth Southgate to make some changes in the team in order to improve the team form especially with the catastrophic display against Cardiff.

Southgate changed the two central midfielders Arca and Rochemback with Egyptian midfielder Shawky and the Dutchman Boateng. In attack, Mido played alongside Tuncay.

Boro made a great start in the game as they forced Villa to play in their own half, the continuous pressure from Boro players particularly Shawky and Boateng resulted in Boro gaining possession and creating many chances.

Mido could have scored early on when Tuncay received the ball and took it past his marker but his shot was blocked by the keeper, the ball fell to Mido who just needed to score into the empty net but the Egyptian squandered the chance and hit the ball just wide.

Mido was wasteful in the two chances that he got, but he made important clearence off the line

Minutes later, Shawky received the ball after a pass from Mido, the Egyptian dribbled into the middle and fired a shot with his left but it sailed just over the crossbar.

Later, Downing intercepted a poor pass from defense and dribbled into the box before firing the ball low to give Boro the deserved lead.

After the goal, Boro continued their superb display and Shawky almost scored from a powerful shot from outside the box. The ball was laid to the Egyptian by Boateng and Shawky fired it with his right centimeters wide.

In the 2nd half, Southgate kept the squad as it is. However, Villa tried harder to get back into the game and forced Boro to defend. The guests did well with counter attacks but the created chances weren't many.

Mido got the best chance to score in the 2nd half when Downing crossed to low the Egyptian who only needed a fine touch to bury the ball home but he oddly put the ball over the bar.

After Mido's big miss, Villa were awarded a controversial penalty kick after a handball by Young in the box. The homeside scored from the spot to level the score.

Minutes after the goal, Mido came off and was replaced by Lee Cattermole.

The match was quiet in the last minutes and ended in a 1-1 draw but Boro may feel they should have won this match.

It should be noted that both Egyptians were shown the yellow card. Shawky got booked after a late challenge while Mido received a yellow card after complaining to the referee because of the penalty kick decision.

Mido was cautioned after arguement with ref because of penalty kick decision

Shawky was rated 7 by SkySports critics while Mido was given 5 as he wasted a couple of easy chances. The fans were particularly delighted with Shawky and all of them want to see him play on Saturday. One of the fans described him as a "Genius in midfield".

EP congratulate Shawky for his solid performance and hopefully Mido will regain his sharpness soon.

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