Middlesbrough moved to within a point of the Championship's automatic promotion places on Friday evening, beating Watford 5-1 at the Riverside to keep their top-two ambitions alive heading into the final fixture of the season. The result, according to the Guardian, is Boro's joint-biggest victory of the campaign.
Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway both scored twice, with David Strelec adding a fifth as Middlesbrough turned what had been a reasonably competitive first half into a rout after the interval. Watford's only reply came through James Abankwah, whose goal early in the second period briefly offered the visitors a foothold they were ultimately unable to build upon.
The result was given additional weight by Ipswich's failure to win at West Brom. The two sides played out a goalless draw, leaving second-placed Ipswich just a single point ahead of Boro in the table. The gap is narrow, though the picture is complicated: Ipswich retain a game in hand, meaning that a win in that fixture would restore their cushion and, in all likelihood, secure their place in the automatic two regardless of what Middlesbrough do on the final day.
For Watford, the defeat underlines the distance between themselves and the division's leading sides at this stage of the season. They matched Boro for long stretches of the first half, but the second period told a different story — one of a home side with momentum and purpose against visitors who had little left to offer once the goals began to flow.
The Championship's final round of fixtures will now determine whether Middlesbrough's form surge amounts to anything conclusive, or whether Ipswich's game in hand renders the arithmetic academic. What is certain is that Boro have done everything asked of them on the night.