Derby County vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.
Pride Park StadiumAttendance28,096.
Saturday 21 April 2018 18:25, UK
Middlesbrough further enhanced their quest for a Championship play-off place with a convincing win at fellow hopefuls Derby.
A goal in either half from Mo Besic and Britt Assombalonga did the damage despite David Nugent's late penalty for the hosts. Boro remain fifth - four points clear of seventh-placed County - and are just one win away from confirming their place in the top six.
Derby entered this match having suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Bradley Johnson headed wide of goal for the hosts early on whilst down the other end the impressive Adama Traore planted a header straight at Scott Carson.
Hesitant defending from the hosts allowed Middlesbrough to open the scoring in the 20th minute. Besic, on loan from Everton, cut inside the penalty area and placed a shot beyond Carson and into the bottom-left corner for his first goal in English football.
In response, Derby's Tom Lawrence tried his luck from long range and forced Darren Randolph to push a shot behind for a corner.
Boro had been limited since the opener and Assombalonga's curling effort just before the interval went just wide of goal.
Derby came out much brighter after the restart, with Nugent clipping a shot into the side netting before Randolph did well to gather Marcus Olsson's long-range effort at the second attempt.
In what was becoming a frantic game, Boro forged two quickfire chances to kill it game off but failed to take advantage on either occasion. First, Jonny Howson dashed into the box and saw his shot clip the top of Carson's bar before Besic blazed over less than a minute after when well-placed.
Derby sub Kasey Palmer almost made an immediate impression on the game after nimble footwork in the box but he could not get sufficient power behind his shot and Randolph gathered with ease.
Despite their profligacy, Boro made amends in the 70th minute when the elusive second goal arrived. Traore dashed down the right flank and fed the simplest of balls into the path of Assombalonga, who paused before lashing the ball past a helpless Carson.
Derby continued to create chances and they were given a lifeline in stoppage time when Daniel Ayala tugged Curtis Davies in the box, with referee Lee Probert pointing to the spot.
Nugent tucked home the resulting spot-kick but it proved to be too little, too late as Boro held on for the victory.
Gary Rowett: "I thought it was a much-improved performance. We've got to the point where it's now do or die. Against a Tony Pulis side, once you allow that first goal to come in, then it's difficult because you allow them to counter-attack and especially with a player like Adama Traore.
"I didn't think we deserved to be 2-0 down if I'm honest, but we didn't defend well for two moments and there were lapses in concentration. I can't fault the players' desire and effort today."
Tony Pulis: "It was a smashing performance. We created some wonderful chances, and we've got to hit the target and make sure the goalkeeper makes saves. We've got to kill the game, but our football at times was excellent.
"The only disappointment was that 20-minute spell in the second half where I thought we could have scored more goals because that would have killed the game. We have to be a little more clinical but I thought we played really well today. I can't give the players any more praise because Derby gave us a proper game."
