Middlesbrough earned their second win in a week as they triumphed 2-0 over nearby neighbours Sunderland in the FA Cup third round. First half goals from Rudy Gestede and Martin Braithwaite were enough to see Tony Pulis’ side through, in what turned out to be a rather faultless performance from the home side.
Boro were hoping to make it five wins in a row against the Black Cats in all competitions, and began the game in encouraging fashion, as Gestede headed just over from an in-swinging Stewart Downing corner in the early stages.
Soon after, Gestede got another opportunity to open the scoring and made no mistake second time around. Adama Traore tricked and outpaced his way through four Sunderland bodies on the half way line, before neatly threading the ball in behind the opposition’s defence.
Gestede had timed his run perfectly and managed to slot home under the onrushing Jason Steele in the Sunderland goal to make it 1-0 with 10 minutes on the clock.
It was Boro’s front men which continued to cause problems for Chris Coleman’s side, as Martin Braithwaite narrowly shot wide on two occasions before the all important second goal late in the first half.
Stewart Downing was making his 600th career appearance, and it was his corner caused which havoc in the Wearsider’s box on the 43 minute mark. Steele missed his attempted punch, and the ball fell kindly to Braithwaite on the edge of the six yard box. The Danish international kept his composure as he neatly slotted it into the bottom right-hand corner with aplomb.
Sunderland’s main threat came from set-pieces, and if it wasn’t for Darren Randolph in the Boro goal, it could have made for a nervy finish for Tony Pulis’ men. Everton loanee Tyias Browning connected perfectly with a header, but Randolph was more than equal to it, tipping the ball over the bar when it looked destined for the top corner.
But the 2-0 score-line flattered the away side, as Boro dominated the game from start to finish, and created chance after chance throughout the 90 minutes.
Middlesbrough will now be looking towards their next game against fellow play-off chasers Fulham on Saturday.
