Middlesbrough beat Cardiff to stay in play-off hunt

Middlesbrough followed Blackburn's lead and kept themselves in the play-off hunt when it mattered most as they beat Cardiff 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium.

After a run of two wins in nine, Rovers kept themselves in contention with a resounding 4-1 win at Preston on Monday night, and Boro - who had lost four home games on the spin in all competitions - did the same two days later, thanks to goals from Marcus Tavernier (28) and Riley McGree (53).

In spite of a performance that lacked intensity at times, Chris Wilder's men move back up to seventh as a result, two points behind Sheffield United with two games remaining. Cardiff stay down in 19th.

In spite of the increasing gap between themselves and the play-off places there was no immediate urgency from Middlesbrough. Balls into the box from wide areas were mopped up relatively easily, with neither Duncan Watmore nor Folarin Balogun able to really carve out any openings.

Cardiff were able to drop back and defend well as a unit as a result of Boro labouring in attack, but just past the midway point of the first half, their resistance was broken when Boro scored at the Riverside for the first time since March 5.

The hosts' most promising move came to fruition when Jonny Howson worked the ball over to Balogun from the right, with the on-loan Arsenal man laying it off to Tavernier, who took a touch and rifled past Bluebirds goalkeeper Dillon Phillips from 25 yards out.

With Steve Morison's side having scored 39 of their 48 league goals in the second halves of games this season, the hosts needed to be aware of the threat posed by their opponents, but goalkeeper Luke Daniels was seldom tested after the break, though Max Watters' cross from the left that bounced off the crossbar