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Hayden Hackney celebrates after giving Middlesbrough the lead at The Hawthorns Hayden Hackney scored the first away goal at The Hawthorns for almost six months to knock West Bromwich Albion off top spot in the Championship and lift Middlesbrough into the top six. The 22-year-old midfielder’s sweet strike gave Boro a deserved victory after Baggies keeper Alex Palmer produced big saves to deny Emmanuel Latte Lath and Ben Doak. Both sets of players and fans stopped in the 57th minute to remember 57-year-old West Brom fan Mark Townsend, who died at Saturday’s match at Sheffield Wednesday. The home side could not break through a stern Boro defence, with the rusty Jed Wallace, making his first start of the season, spurning their two best chances. Championship: Sunderland move top of the table as West Brom lose to Boro Boro followed up their win over Stoke at the weekend by inflicting the Baggies’ second successive defeat, after they lost at Hillsborough. On a night when the loss of one of their fans was uppermost in the mind of many in the stadium, there was concern for assistant referee Rob Smith, who needed medical treatment on the touchline and was ferried to hospital for tests after complaining of feeling unwell, just seven minutes into the game. After the action was restarted with fourth official Jacob Miles picking up the flag, Boro had much the better of the first half. The Baggies had not conceded at home since Sunderland beat them 1-0 on 13 April, but they had Palmer to thank for that as he parried a Finn Azaz shot and Riley Mc Gree wastefully ballooned the rebound over the bar. Palmer was the hero again as Luke Ayling slung in a cross from deep and Latte Lath escaped the defence to head for the bottom corner, only for the keeper to produce a fine save low to his left. Azaz fired just wide as Doak caused the erstwhile league leaders plenty of problems down the right, and West Brom offered nothing until the last five minutes of the first half as Josh Maja twice teed up Wallace, who struck the first straight at Boro keeper Seny Dieng and then got his radar all wrong as he tried to curl in the second. West Brom wanted a win to mark an emotional night but after a moment of applause for the late Baggies fan, it was Boro who pushed on. Ayling headed into the side-netting, Palmer had to be sharp to deny the highly impressive Doak one-on-one and Latte Lath headed the resulting corner just wide. The breakthrough came in the 73rd minute with a lovely move, Doak moving the ball sharply to Mc Gree, who rolled it for Hackney to sweep majestically into the bottom corner. West Brom roused themselves but Maja’s acrobatic attempt to divert a wicked Alex Mowatt cross into the net only succeeded in glancing it wide. West Brom manager Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio WM: "It's not the result we wanted to achieve but I know we were playing against a good team, a team that wants to attack and forces you to defend very well. "In a very equal game, they saw more quality in the last third, they were better using the opportunities they had. They scored one of them and Alex made two amazing saves, and in the big moments we had we didn't find a way to finish the attacks. "It was a very tight game with not a lot of difference between the teams. "Sometimes when you build the momentum we were building at the start of the season you create expectation. It's not real because when you have only played six or seven teams, you still have a lot of challenges in front of you. " Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick told BBC Radio Tees: "It’s a really tough place to come and we haven't had much success here for a couple of years, they're experienced in this league and well-coached and it was a proper game tonight. "There were so many good things in the game, as well as the football, the technical and tactical side of things, it was the way we just dealt with it, controlled the game and showed a lot of maturity. "We started the first 10 minutes really well and managed the last 10 minutes really well, and the lads coming off the bench did a fantastic job. "Our thoughts go out to the assistant referee, hopefully he's alright - and the reports say he is - as it looked quite serious at the time. " Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 1st October 2024 at 22: 01 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Carlos Corberán Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Michael Carrick Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Carlos Corberán Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Michael Carrick Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions West Brom have won both of their last two home league games against Middlesbrough, last winning three in a row in December 1978 when the two clubs were in the top-flight. Middlesbrough won their last league meeting with West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in December 2023, last beating the Baggies in consecutive matches in February 2019. West Brom have only lost two of their last 16 home league games (W11 D3) and are yet to concede at the Hawthorns in the Championship this term. Middlesbrough have lost two of their three Championship away games this season (W1), this after only losing two of their final 11 on the road in the division last term (W6 D3). West Brom have won eight of their last nine midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D1), keeping a clean sheet in all eight wins in this run. Match ends, West Bromwich Albion 0, Middlesbrough 1. Second Half ends, West Bromwich Albion 0, Middlesbrough 1. Foul by Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough). Alex Mowatt (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Isaiah Jones (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card. Isaiah Jones (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Callum Styles (West Bromwich Albion). Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match because of an injury Seny Dieng (Middlesbrough). Attempt blocked. Lewis Dobbin (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is blocked. Attempt missed. Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the left. Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time. Substitution, Middlesbrough. George Mc Cormick replaces Riley Mc Gree. Attempt missed. Delano Burgzorg (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Neto Borges with a cross. Attempt missed. Josh Maja (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Mikey Johnston with a through ball. Attempt blocked. Callum Styles (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Mikey Johnston. Attempt missed. Josh Maja (West Bromwich Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Tom Fellows with a cross. Substitution, Middlesbrough. Isaiah Jones replaces Ben Doak. Attempt missed. Josh Maja (West Bromwich Albion) right footed shot from very close range is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Alex Mowatt with a cross. Attempt missed. Riley Mc Gree (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Finn Azaz. © 2024 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.