A largely forgettable game for the neutral ended a stalemate at the Hawthorns.
Aitor Karanka picked up his 5th Premier League point as his Middlesbrough side kept their first top flight clean sheet since April 18th 2009, a similar stalemate against Fulham.
Middlesbrough seemed to lack a cutting edge at the Hawthorns today.
Albert Adomah was missing from the match day squad and Jordan Rhodes is still waiting for his Premier League debut, as Middlesbrough looked to miss some creative quality.
Player ratings
Brad Guzan - 6
Another typical Guzan performance in only his second Boro start. Looks comfortable for 90 per cent of the game, but almost makes a mistake that costs his team the game. A mistimed collection from a corner almost gave Salomon Rondon the only goal of the game.
Emilo Nsue - 5.5
Nsue was arguably Middlesbrough's most improved player last year, but he struggled today, he has looked quite shaky defensively in the Premier League - with him being out of position leading to Ayala's yellow card in the first 17 seconds of the game. He was also uncharacteristically poor going forward today, with his crosses going astray.
Daniel Ayala - 6.5
Ayala slipped seamlessly back into Boro's backline, as he did many times last year when returning from injury. He had to tread carefully after picking up the early booking, but he did so well and even had a chance to score, but only found Ben Foster in his way.
Ben Gibson - 7.5
The 23-year-old captained his home town club in the Premier League for the first time today. Any player might shy away from this, but Gibson - who has been smashing expectations since being brought into the first team by former Boro manager Tony Mowbray - took this in his stride and put in another admirable performance. Are you watching, Big Sam?
Antonio Barragan - 7
Any Boro player who has to replace George Friend has his work cut out, but Barragan put in a great performance in his place. Barragan is yet to start in his preffered right back spot, but he has impressed in all 3 games despite playing out of position.
Adam Clayton - 7.5
Any time that Boro keep a clean sheet, it can be said that Adam Clayton has had a good game. An extremely tidy showing from the ex-Leeds man where he didn't misplace a pass until the second half, and he could be an ever present for Karanka this year.
Man of the Match for Forshaw again?
Adam Forshaw - 8
If I could copy and paste my analysis for Forshaw from last year, I would. He was consistent and did the dirty work again. The only criticism would be that nothing came from when he won the ball back, like against Sunderland, but that is more the fault of the player's infront of him.
Cristhian Stuani - 6
Stuani is a player who can blow hot and cold, today was definitely a cold day for the Uruguayan who was on first a week ago at the Stadium of Light. He could have scored if Negredo had passed the ball to him in the first half, but Stuani's end product was no where near what it was last week.
Gaston Ramirez - 6.5
Ramirez needs to turn up to every game if Boro are going to get points on the board, and he went missing for large parts of this match. Aside from hitting the side netting in the early stages of the second half, he was very quiet.
Stewart Downing - 7
Downing's 84th minute effort was the most excitement Boro fans had all day in the midlands. A shot lashed just wide of the West Brom post would have been the best bit of quality in the whole game. Downing worked hard in this game but it was to no avail.
Alvaro Negredo - 6
The former Valencia frontman cut a lonely figure at points today. Boro will need to support him with their attacking trio if they are going to score more goals this year. Negredo, however, did have Boro's best chance of the game as he ran into trouble in the box and his touch let him down, when he should have passed to an unmarked Stuani.