Middlesbrough 2-1 Swansea City: Watmore’s double gives Warnock victory

Neil Warnock enjoyed a belated birthday celebration when Middlesbrough beat Swansea City to close the gap in the championship play-off spots.

The man with a record of eight promotions in English football on his resume toasted another win when Duncan Watmore’s double gave Middlesbrough victory.

It was just a third loss of the season for Swansea, who could have moved up to the automatic promotion spots with a win, but didn’t pull off the best in possession.

It was Middlesbrough night when Watmore, whom Warnock signed to a short-term contract last month, scored with a deviant effort before doubling his tally at halftime.

Warnock was forced to endure a nervous ending after Swansea’s replacement Yan Dhanda retired a goal with another deflected shot, but the home side held on.

This was a meeting of two teams with impressive defensive records, but it was a meeting that generated chances.

Swansea threatened first, with a Jamal Lowe shot blocked by Marcus Bettinelli before Marcus Tavernier blocked Connor Roberts’ goal well.

But it was the home team that went ahead with their first effort of the night, when Watmore cut from the left and saw his 20-yard drive drift off Marc Guehi and away from the bad foot Freddie Woodman.

It was a sweet moment for the former Sunderland Watmore player, who was only making a third appearance since moving to Teesside.

Swansea’s appeals for a penalty were ignored after Andre Ayew fell under the challenge of Marvin Johnson.

If they felt badly done there, the visitors were lucky just before halftime when Watmore chose Sam Morsy and his close range effort was sent to safety by Woodman.

Swansea head coach Steve Cooper responded by making three substitutes at halftime, sacrificing a defender in pursuit of a comeback.

The tie almost came within seconds of the restart, with Viktor Gyokeres, one of those just in, seeing a deflected shot over an empty net after Bettinelli had cleared a punt.

Woodman then blocked Johnson’s 25-yard shot and the resulting corner fell to Morsy, whose shot was brilliantly blocked under the bar by Guehi.

Swansea then enjoyed a period of pressure before Middlesbrough doubled their lead on the fast break.

The visitors were left very exposed after Gyokeres gave away the ball cheaply, with Paddy McNair feeding Watmore into the area unchallenged before shooting low to the net.

Swansea was not done, and hope was given when Dhanda walked away from a challenge at the edge of the penalty area and claimed the first goal of the season when his shot drifted high into the net.

Dhanda was a busy presence in Swansea’s attempt for the draw, but Middlesbrough’s rearguard dug deep to deliver a victory that places Warnock’s men just two points behind the top six.

Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock:

“A good performance tonight, I really enjoyed it. We are playing against one of the best teams, I think, but I thought in all departments we played well tonight.

“We could have scored a few more and then made it a bit stressful at the end, but I really felt we deserved it. I’ve told them they’re a good team, but so are we.

“I’m happy for Duncan. He’s had a terrible time. He has come here unpaid for a few weeks. You don’t always get your reward, but he did tonight.

“It’s the best result of the season by an absolute mile because we’re playing with a good team after a bad result. It’s probably my best result since I’ve been here.”