Middlesbrough vs Wolves match report: Boro cling on after rampant opening to keep hopes alive

Middlesbrough 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

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There was a quick two-fisted salute and then Aitor Karanka was mobbed by his back-room staff. Middlesbrough achieved their preliminary aim last night, when they reached the end-of-season lottery that is the Championship play-offs.

Perhaps the most pertinent message, however, came at half-time, over the Riverside Stadium public address system: “Fingers crossed, our final home game of the season will be on May the second, against Brighton.”

They were crossed last night in the closing stages, by which time one Middlesbrough player (Jonathan Woodgate) had limped off and another (Albert Adomah) had been carried off, and the team were hanging on for their lives.

Karanka paced nervously in the home technical area. He urged calm, and given the level of dominance in a one-sided first half, that was understandable, when Jelle Vosse and Patrick Bamford had swept his side into an early, two-goal lead.

There are three more games to find the nine points that might end six years in the wilderness. It will not get any easier. The prize is now even greater.

Karanka’s men had made a quite outstanding start to the game. The Riverside Stadium was not full, but it was raucous, and that seemed to help set a breathtaking tempo that gave Middlesbrough a two-goal lead by the time the game had reached the 11th minute. Wolves did know what had hit them.

The game was not three minutes old when Bamford played a square ball to Vossen and the Belgian forward swept his shot into an empty goal from the edge of the Wolves penalty area.

The second was not far behind. This time the creator was Tomas Kalas, who produced a fine run down the Middlesbrough right before cleverly cutting the ball back and Bamford was there to turn quickly and smash in his 17th Championship goal of the season.

The onslaught continued and in the 19th minute Adomah set off on a scintillating run that took him past two defenders before he curled a left-footed shot from 25 yards that cracked off Carl Ikeme’s crossbar, with the goalkeeper well beaten.

The visitors had spent the rest of the first half with the brittle spirit of a side who had not tasted victory in Teesside for 64 years ago. That changed eight minutes into the second half, when Rajiv van La Parra found Bakary Sako to his left and the Wolves forward fired past Dimi Konstantopoulous at his near post.

Middlesbrough’s confidence drained and there would be a major scare with a quarter of an hour remaining. The substitute Scott Golbourne crossed from the left and Van La Parra was unmarked at the far post to strike his volley off the Middlesbrough crossbar.

Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Konstantopoulous; Kalas, Woodgate (Omeruo, 62), Gibson, Friend; Adomah (Amorebieta, 80), Clayton, Forshaw, Tomlin; Bamford, Vossen (Nsue Lopez, 74). Substitutes not used Ripley (gk), Garcia Martinez, Ledesma, Whitehead.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-2-3-1): Ikeme; Iorfa, Batth, Stearman, Hause (Golbourne, h-t); McDonald, Price (Dicko, 63); Van La Parra (Jacobs, 77) , Edwards, Sako; Afobe. Substitutes not used Kuszczak (gk) Henry, Doyle, Ebanks-Landell.

Referee N Swarbrick (Lancashire).