A second-half header from Gaston Ramirez has earned Middlesbrough a 1-0 victory against Hull City at the Riverside Stadium.

The midfielder struck on the hour mark as Aitor Karanka's team recorded a deserved win over the Tigers, who remain in the relegation zone.

The first chance of the game went to the home side with Ramirez and Marten de Roon combining to set up Alvaro Negredo, but his half-volley from 12 yards was directed over the crossbar.

Ramirez then saw a shot of his own kept out by a good save from David Marshall before up the other end, Sam Clucas fired well over for the Tigers.

That turned out to be Hull's only opportunity during the first 40 minutes of the game as Boro pressed Mike Phelan's side, and that approach led to Adam Forshaw forcing another intervention out of Marshall, who kept out his effort from 20 yards.

Just after the half-hour mark, Viktor Fischer had the ball in the net but he was denied his first goal for Boro by both an offside flag and the fact that he handled the ball before bundling home inside the six-yard box.

As the first half drew to a close, Negredo headed wide from inside the six-yard box when he probably should have scored but just before the break, Middlesbrough needed Ben Gibson to stop Adama Diomande from giving Hull an undeserved lead.

It took a while for the home team to build any momentum after the restart but it was Ramirez who continued to be their most effective player and on the hour mark, he opened the scoring.

An inswinging corner from the left was met by the Uruguayan, who moved away from Diomande before powering a header into the bottom corner from eight yards.

It did not take long for Hull boss Phelan to change his approach to the game but Hull created no more opportunities until Clucas headed over at the near post after meeting a corner from Robert Snodgrass.

Despite their narrow lead, Middlesbrough maintained their efforts to try to score a second with Negredo heading a Fabio cross straight at Marshall and Fischer curling over from inside the penalty area.

As the game entered added-on time, it seemed a case of Middlesbrough seeing out the four minutesbut it was that period where Hull enjoyed their best spell of the match.

After Diomande's 25-yard strike was superbly tipped over by Victor Valdes, the forward came within inches of sliding the ball in at the back post after a header from Ahmed Elmohamady.

Middlesbrough survived, however, and Karanka was able to celebrate a win - his side's second at home this season - which takes them into 13th place in the standings.