Middlesbrough have leapfrogged Hull City and Derby County to move into second place in the Championship after a hard-fought 2-0 victory away to Huddersfield Town this afternoon.
Adam Clayton handed Boro a dream start as he side-stepped two challenges on the edge of the area before rifling the ball past Jed Steer after nine minutes.
Nahki Wells rattled the bar with a free kick just two minutes later as Huddersfield responded well to going a goal behind.
Dimitrios Konstantopoulos then threw himself at the feet of Wells before making a save from Sean Scannell.
Huddersfield continued to come forward and Boro's Greek stopper denied Martin Paterson with another save after half an hour.
There were no chances for either side for the remainder of the first half, but Stewart Downing tested Steer with a free kick in the 53rd minute.
Boro managed to hold Huddersfield at arm's length for the majority of the second half, but they were relieved as Florent Bojaj couldn't turn the ball home at the far post with 10 minutes remaining.
With six minutes left, Boro wrapped up all three points as Emilio Nsue ran at the Huddersfield defence before slotting the ball into the back of the net.
Kristian Johnson
