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Championship | Gameweek 36
Mar 13, 2021 at 3pm UK
Riverside Stadium
SL

Middlesbrough
3 - 0
Stoke

Hall (21'), McNair (40'), Mendez-Laing (88')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Powell (23')

Middlesbrough 3-0 Stoke: Neil Warnock's men keep playoff hopes alive

:Headline: Middlesbrough 3-0 Stoke: Neil Warnock's men keep playoff hopes alive:
First-half goals from Grant Hall and Paddy McNair put the hosts on course for victory.
Sports Mole

Middlesbrough kept their Sky Bet Championship play-off hopes alive by beating Stoke 3-0 at the Riverside Stadium.

First-half goals from Grant Hall and Paddy McNair set Boro on their way to only their second home win of the year.

Hall's opener in the 21st minute arrived out of the blue and from there the hosts never looked back, with McNair adding a second five minutes before half-time.

Substitute Nathaniel Mendez-Laing wrapped things up with the third with two minutes left.

The defeat was Stoke's fourth in five matches and left them five points behind ninth-placed Middlesbrough, who remain eight points off Barnsley in sixth.

Middlesbrough's poor recent home form encouraged Stoke to start on the front foot and Jacob Brown was inches away from putting the visitors in front when his cross hit a post 22 seconds in.

Stoke kept pressing and were clearly intent on establishing an early advantage, but Michael O'Neill's side were unable to turn their possession into a goal.

The only other opportunity they created came when full-back Tommy Smith cut inside Neeskens Kebano and sent a curling effort wide of the near post.

Five minutes later Middlesbrough, whose decision to change formation and switch McNair from defence to midfield paid off, went ahead against the run of play from the first serious threat on Angus Gunn's goal.

Chuba Akpom brilliantly flicked Marc Bola's corner on at the near post and Hall was quick to pounce ahead of Smith to side-foot the opener over the line from close range.

Stoke continued to enjoy plenty of the ball without really threatening, James Chester heading over from Jack Clarke's corner as close as they came to a leveller.

That came 10 minutes after Kebano had brushed the side-netting with a shot at the other end and, after he had flashed another effort wide, McNair added Boro's second in style.

Yannick Bolasie played him in down the left and McNair took a touch before opening up his body and rolling a finish inside the far post.

Middlesbrough almost had a third just before the hour mark when Bolasie's headed flick invited Gunn to race out of his area to clear. The ball ended up at the feet of McNair and his strike brushed the side-netting rather than drop into the empty goal.

Middlesbrough, content to sit on their lead, invited Stoke pressure and Marcus Bettinelli made a strong-handed stop from Steven Fletcher's volley.

And with two minutes to go Boro put the game to bed as Mendez-Laing, seven minutes after coming on, ran on to Sam Morsy's through-ball and chipped Gunn to score.

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sunderland1594225111431
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1510321971231
3Leeds UnitedLeeds158522491529
4Burnley157621861227
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom15672169725
6Watford158162322125
7Middlesbrough157352317624
8Millwall156541813523
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn156451917222
10Bristol City155732019122
11Swansea CitySwansea155461110119
12Derby CountyDerby155461919019
13Stoke CityStoke155461819-119
14Norwich CityNorwich154652322118
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds155371725-818
16Oxford UnitedOxford Utd154561718-117
17Coventry CityCoventry154472021-116
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth154471526-1116
19Hull City153661620-415
20Preston North EndPreston153661523-815
21Luton TownLuton154381726-915
22Cardiff CityCardiff154381423-915
23Portsmouth152671628-1212
24Queens Park RangersQPR151771225-1310
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