Middlesbrough return to winning ways to keep Championship promotion hopes alive

Morgan Whittaker’s 12th goal of the season cemented Middlesbrough’s place in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs as they edged past Sheffield Wednesday to end their eight-game wait for a victory.

Kim Hellberg’s men closed to within three points of the automatic promotion places courtesy of a prosaic 1-0 win over already relegated Wednesday at the Riverside Stadium, but more importantly went six clear of seventh-placed Hull with just two games to play.

Perhaps fittingly on a night when they dominated, but were once again unable to kill the game off, Whittaker’s 11th-minute winner was served up on a plate by defender Gabriel Otegbayo.

On a cool Spring night on Teesside, it was the hosts who made the more progressive start, but Wednesday had arrived in determined mood and were not making life comfortable for the promotion-chasers.

However, Boro took the lead with 11 minutes gone, albeit from a gift when Whittaker anticipated Otegbayo’s ill-judged back-pass and intercepted before rounding stranded goalkeeper Murphy Cooper and sliding the ball into the empty net.

Full-back Matt Targett dragged a long-range drive well wide as the home side went in search of a second, but Charlie McNeill was equally inaccurate at the other end after running on to Tayo Adaramola’s inviting pull-back.

Otegbayo headed Alan Browne’s stabbed 21st-minute shot away from goal and Cooper had to palm Whittaker’s well-struck attempt out for a corner seconds later, but Otegbayo unwittingly came to the rescue once again when David Strelec’s first-time effort hit him on its way to goal.

Browne looped a header from a Targett cross well over and Cooper repelled Whittaker’s shot from a tight angle as the first half, a late flurry aside, rather ambled to its conclusion without further addition to the scoreline.

The second half began in similar vein with Boro probing, but getting nowhere fast as they were unable to convert possession and territory into genuine chances.

Whittaker scuffed a 54th-minute shot from distance well wide and Aidan Morris blazed over after robbing Marvelous Nakamba and charging forwards seconds later, and although Jeremy Sarmiento added fresh vigour from the bench, the visitors remained stubbornly in the contest.

Adilson Malanda had to throw himself into the path of substitute Jamal Lowe’ 69th-minute attempt to prevent them from gaining an even firmer foothold, and it took a solid save by Sol Brynn eight minutes later to deny an equaliser from substitute Will Grainger.

Substitute Kaly Sene should have doubled Boro’s advantage in stoppage time after being played through by Morris, but Cooper won their duel before Adaramola cleared Sarmiento’s follow-up off the line, and a single goal ultimately proved enough, if only just.