Middlesbrough 0 Aston Villa 1Mile Jedinak headed Aston Villa a step closer to the Premier League as they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 in the first leg of the Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final. Boro fought to the bitter end for an equaliser in front of a passionate crowd of 29,233 at the Riverside Stadium, but were largely unable to summon up the craft they needed, despite goalkeeper Sam Johnstone’s late save from substitute Fabio. The game began at a frantic pace, with Villa working desperately hard in an attempt to deny dangerman Adama Traore the time and space he needed to prosper, and Snodgrass and Jack Grealish looking to carve open the home defence. Boro responded belatedly with Britt Assombalonga firing wastefully wide after controlling Jonny Howson’s long ball on his chest and then blasting another effort into the side-netting soon after. Boro returned in determined mood, but lacked inspiration as Villa defended deep, but with a measure of comfort, and attempted to hit the hosts on the counter.

Source: The Irish Times May 12, 2018 18:45 UTC