Aleksandar Mitrovic scores again as Fulham win at Middlesbrough

Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 38th goal of the season moved leaders Fulham 17 points clear of the Sky Bet Championship’s play-off zone as they claimed a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.

The Cottagers, on course for an immediate return to the Premier League, secured yet another victory, with Marco Silva’s men now 11 points clear of second-placed Bournemouth.

The Serbian’s header with 17 minutes remaining proved enough to knock Boro out of the top six.

Middlesbrough, who announced during the half-time break that the “people of Teesside” had donated £225,000 to help those in need in Ukraine courtesy of the club’s share of the gate receipts for the recent FA Cup tie against Chelsea, sit two points shy of Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest above them.

With Boro looking for a Riverside record ninth straight home win to climb up to fifth, it was a blow that highly-rated winger Isaiah Jones was missing.

It was always going to be a tough challenge for the home side to achieve that target against a team charging towards the top flight, but that did not stop them from looking to create.

Even though Middlesbrough had plenty of the ball in the early exchanges, Fulham’s quality in possession and ability to use the width of the pitch gave Chris Wilder’s men plenty to think about from the off.

Had it not been for a tame finish from Mitrovic following a Jonny Howson error, or some fine defending by Anfernee Dijksteel to thwart Fabio Carvalho, the leaders might have been ahead.

And with 23 minutes on the clock Mitrovic had the first clear-cut chance after Fulham turned defence into attack, with a hint of controversy too.

When Matt Crooks dived in to Harrison Reed in the Fulham half, the latter rolled around in agony while visiting boss Silva