Middlesbrough 1-2 Hull City: Delap and Tufan goals secure comeback win for Tigers against stuttering Boro

Two sides with play-off aspirations met at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday evening for a huge Championship clash. Michael Carrick’s injury-hit Boro side looked to hit back following a 2-0 defeat to Ipswich Town last time out, while Liam Rosenior’s Tigers also lost by the same scoreline to a resurgent QPR team.

MID: Dieng; Dijksteel, van den Berg, Fry, Engel; Howson, Barlaser; Jones, Greenwood, Crooks; Latte Lath

HUL: Allsop; Christie, Jones, Greaves, Coyle; Morton, Seri; Slater, Connolly, Twine; Delap

The opening minutes in Teeside saw both sides attempting to catch each other out, but the first opportunity of the game would fall the way of Middlesbrough, with Sam Greenwood firing just over the bar for the hosts.

But just moments after, the home side would take the lead, as Greenwood was involved once more. The Leeds loanee found Lukas Engel down the left hand side, before the Danish left-back pulled the ball back towards Isaiah Jones, whose shot was blocked into the path of Emmanuel Latte Lath, who smashed home the rebound past a helpless Ryan Allsop. 

The Hull goalkeeper, however, was left untroubled by a second attempt on goal from Latte Lath, as the stopper collected the ball comfortably before an early second goal could come to fruition. 

Middlesbrough had another clear-cut chance to add a second, with Lukas Engel’s first-time pass finding Latte Lath. The forward then found Isaiah Jones through on goal, and somehow, the Boro winger crashed his effort back off the bar. 

Boro started the second half nervously and this nervy start almost cost the home side, only for Liam Delap to mistime his shot at the final hurdle as Boro goalkeeper Seny Dieng kept the England U21 international at bay. Regardless, this went down as Hull’s best chance of the game so far.

Following a mistake from Boro right-back Anfernee Dijksteel, Tyler Morton was next to try his luck from range for the visitors, but the Liverpool loanee’s strike whistled just over the bar.

Up the other end, however, Sam Greenwood teased Hull stopper Ryan Allsop with a brilliant free-kick. Fortunately for Allsop, Greenwood’s strike narrowly missed the near post.

With just over twenty minutes to go, Liam Rosenior’s side grabbed their equaliser. A corner was whipped in from the right hand side towards the far post, where Liam Delap’s eyes lit up and rose highest to head home past Seny Dieng in the Middlesbrough goal. 

Middlesbrough could have retaken the lead within minutes of the Tigers’ leveller, as Isaiah Jones’ ball in from the right eventually landed at the feet of Sam Greenwood. The Leeds loanee had the goal at his mercy, but a remarkable last-minute clearance by Jacob Greaves prevented Boro’s second of the game. Matt Crooks’ long-range strike shortly after flew well over the bar.

Michael Carrick’s side were the ones on top going into the last ten minutes at the Riverside, and Boro substitute Morgan Rogers had a difficult chance to put his side back in front, but his narrow-angled strike whistled across the face of goal.

At the other end, however, Hull City completed their brilliant turnaround. Ruben Vinagre, who came on for Cyrus Christie earlier in the second half, made a great run down the left hand side, and pulled the ball back towards fellow substitute Ozan Tufan. The Turkish striker made no mistake as he latched onto the cutback and hammered the ball home past Dieng. 

Both sides are next in action this Saturday, with Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough making the trip to Wales to take on manager-less Swansea City, whilst Hull City host Erol Bulut’s Cardiff City – both kick off at 3pm.