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Middlesbrough close gap on Championship leaders Coventry to three points Taylor own goal puts Middlesbrough ahead and Silvera scores superb second Price free-kick halves Albion's deficit and sub Wallace equalises But Burgzorg comes off bench to fire Boro winner in 90th minute Ex-Man Utd coach Eric Ramsay's first game in charge of WBA ends in defeat Get Involved: Use button below, #bbcefl on X, via Whats App on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply) Glenn Speller and Oliver Brindle Charlie Taylor (42 mins - own goal) Oh dear. .. Alex Gilbert thunders a shot against the post and West Brom defender Charlie Taylor cannot sort out his feet in time, succeeding in only sending the ball into his own net. Silence on three sides of The Hawthorns but lots of noise from those who have travelled from Teesside. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Karlan Grant gets in front of Luke Ayling as he runs onto a long ball. Grant gets his shot away and Sol Brynn dives to his right to make the save. Play switches to the other end and Tommy Conway strikes straight at Josh Griffiths. Better - from both sides. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough A free-kick down the right flank for Middlesbrough. It is played back to Aidan Morris whose shot is on target but it is straight at Josh Griffiths. West Brom are playing more like an away side at the moment. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Tony 'Bomber' Brown West Brom's all-time leading goalscorer on BBC Radio WM Albion can't get any decent possession high in the Middlesbrough half, and are doing a lot of defending. That is probably what Ramsay wants. He probably wants the players not to leave any gaps, and close down all the Middlesbrough attacks - which is working. Albion need to try and get out. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough It is just a blanket defence from West Brom. Middlesbrough are probing and working the ball from one side to the other but there is just nothing happening for them from an attacking perspective. Good discipline from the home side but they concede a corner. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough A backpass brings a few intakes of breath among Middlesbrough fans as goalkeeper Sol Brynn almost misjudges it and has to stretch to get it under control. We have got a bit of a deadlock at the moment as both sides strive for an opening. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Middlesbrough are seeing more and more of the ball but they just cannot get through the massed West Brom defence. It almost looks like there are more than 10 players in Baggies shirts when they defend. It is going to take some working out as to how they can break them down. We have 15 minutes to go until the interval. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Neil Maddison Former Middlesbrough midfielder on BBC Tees Aidan Morris does really well and I said, 'shoot' because he creates the angle and the opportunity. It is a great chance but he can't get it down and in. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough More danger for West Brom. Middlesbrough keep the ball alive around the edge of the box before it breaks to Aidan Morris. He cuts in from the left and sends a shot over. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Tony 'Bomber' Brown West Brom's all-time leading goalscorer on BBC Radio WM The game has become a bit of a stalemate at the moment. It has all just slowed down and the pace has gone. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Alex Gilbert sends a dangerous ball right across the face of the West Brom goal but there is no-one in a red shirt to apply the finishing touch. A few signs Middlesbrough are settling into this. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough A shot from Middlesbrough, kind of. Some neat passing ends with a weak Aidan Morris effort well wide of goal. It has quietened somewhat around The Hawthorns. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough For all their early pressure, four corners and plenty of possession there was just that one chance for West Brom with Sol Brynn out at the feet of Aune Heggebo after four minutes. Middlesbrough will feel they have survived the early onslaught from their pumped-up opponents. Boro have lost their past two on the road in the league without scoring. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Steve Hermon BBC Radio WM commentator The Middlesbrough fans are chanting "football in a library". It is a cold night and the West Brom fans have been encouraged by the new style of football - but you imagine they might be a bit nervous. Use button below, #bbcefl on X, via Whats App on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply) I hope Boro get promotion, Steve Gibson deserves it. Pete, Keighley West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough This is a high-tempo approach from West Brom - they break quickly but get numbers back to defend. The question is how long can they sustain it? There is certainly a lot of adrenaline running through those in striped shirts. Middlesbrough are noticeably trying to slow this down. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Neil Maddison Former Middlesbrough midfielder on BBC Tees I feel by looking at how congested it is in the middle, it is all going to be down the flanks tonight. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough Sam Iling-Junior gets another cross in for West Brom and a lunging defender puts it behind for a fourth Baggies corner. It is dealt with by the visitors but they are having to soak up a lot of pressure. If this is a sign of things to come then West Brom fans will be more than happy. West Brom 0-0 Middlesbrough A Middlesbrough ball forward is over hit and goes out for a goal kick. West Brom goalkeeper Josh Griffiths gets his first touch of the ball and we are in the 12th minute. Penny for Boro boss Kim Hellberg's thoughts. Use button below, #bbcefl on X, via Whats App on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply) Ramsay’s changes show he’s going to challenge this Albion squad and take them out of their comfort zone in order to find the best team for the players at his disposal. Positive and strong leadership. Stamping his authority from the get-go. Chris Adams, Reading Delano Burgzorg's last Middlesbrough goal had come on 16 August Substitute Delano Burgzorg scored a 90th-minute winner as Middlesbrough moved within three points of Championship leaders Coventry with a dramatic victory in West Bromwich Albion's first game under new head coach Eric Ramsay. An own goal just before half-time from Albion defender Charlie Taylor and a second strike in two league games from Sam Silvera just before the hour had put Boro in control, only for the Baggies to rally brilliantly with two goals in five minutes. But Burgzorg drilled home his first goal since August to claim what could be a crucial three points in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League. Ramsay's side had started brightly and Norway striker Aune Heggebo could have scored inside the first three minutes, but for an important stop from Sol Brynn. Boro weathered that storm and dominated possession, although there was a big slice of luck about their opener as Alex Gilbert struck the woodwork and as the ball ricocheted out, Taylor could not sort his feet out and it flew into the net off him. The second goal was more straightforward as Morgan Whittaker played in Silvera and he fired low past Josh Griffiths for goals in successive league games. Isaac Price curled home a free-kick to give Albion some hope and five minutes later, they were level when Jed Wallace swept home as the ball reached him running unmarked towards the back post. However, Burgzorg and Boro had the last laugh as they put the pressure on Coventry and extended their advantage over Ipswich Town, in third, to five points. The stoppage-time defeat at Leicester City in the Baggies' previous Championship game proved to be the final straw in Ryan Mason's short spell as head coach. A 10th consecutive away loss left him no wiggle room with Albion 18th in the table and they have chosen Ramsay as the man to revive their fortunes in both the short and long term. Ramsay has plenty of coaching experience in the UK, working as an assistant at Manchester United, no less, under Erik ten Hag, but he proved his worth by moving Stateside and guiding Minnesota to successive fourth-place finishes in the Western Conference of the MLS. With Minnesota one of the more unglamorous sides in the competition, Albion's hierarchy were impressed how Ramsay had maximised his resources. That is something the Baggies need to do now Premier League parachute payments are a thing of the past. But however good his achievements in the USA, English football is a different beast and although Ramsay will need no reminder of that, this chaotic 90 minutes reinforced it. The hosts started brightly in a new five-man defensive line-up, then subsided meekly for a long period and looked to be slipping to a comfortable defeat. But Price's free-kick changed the momentum and The Hawthorns was rocking when substitute Wallace levelled minutes later. Yet they could not see the job through for a morale-boosting point and instead a seventh loss in nine Championship games has them looking over their shoulders, seven points clear of the relegation zone, especially with Norwich City, in 22nd, the next visitors to The Hawthorns on Tuesday night. Isaac Price's curling free-kick - his sixth goal of the season - had given West Brom hope Middlesbrough have confounded expectations virtually all season, leading fans to wonder if this will be the year they end their Premier League exile stretching back to 2017. Even Rob Edwards' departure to Wolves in November did not halt their momentum, as successor Kim Hellberg won his opening four games. There followed a sticky run of one point and no goals from four matches over Christmas and New Year, but a 4-0 thumping of Southampton in their previous league outing put them back in the automatic promotion spots. They withstood the expected charge from a team playing for a new boss and oozed a quiet confidence as they started to dominate possession. When Silvera fired home the second just before the hour, the game felt done and Adilson Malanda should have added a third with a header, but West Brom's comeback would have caught the attention of the Sky Blues and Tractor Boys preparing for their Saturday lunchtime games. At that stage, the game could have gone either way, but up stepped Burgzorg as the ex-Huddersfield man ended a 22-game wait for only his second goal of the season. If Boro do go on to end that nine-year wait for top-flight football, the importance of this strike will not be under-estimated. West Bromwich Albion head coach Eric Ramsay said: "It's very difficult not to feel very disappointed. I wouldn't be human if that wasn't the case and certainly after we got ourselves back into the game. "You could only see it going one way and the fact that it hasn't makes it incredibly disappointing. "But coming into this game and irrespective of the outcome, it was going to be information for us as a coaching staff and as players which will give us food for thought as we move into Tuesday. "I'm very much wrapped in the process that we continue to get better so I'm not going to get drawn into the highs and lows but it's difficult not to get swept up in that. " This video can not be played Hellberg: Late winner 'the best feeling you can have' Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg said: "The mentality of the players is the key thing here after the crowd goes unbelievably crazy. "The game was almost done. We were controlling things and they scored a goal from almost nothing. "They got a lot of energy and have some very good players and then [for us] to come back from that and score a winner in that way [was great]. "It was not a long ball, it was not lucky, it was a top quality goal in the 90th minute and that says everything about this group of lads. " After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 16th January 2026 at 21: 52 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Eric Ramsay Formation: 5 - 4 - 1 Manager: Kim Hellberg Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Eric Ramsay Formation: 5 - 4 - 1 Manager: Kim Hellberg Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions West Brom have won two of their last seven home league games against Middlesbrough (D2 L3), beating them in 2022-23 and 2023-24 under Carlos Corberan. Middlesbrough have won each of their last four league games against West Brom, as many victories as across their prior 15 matches against the Baggies combined (D4 L7). This will be the first game in charge of West Brom for manager Eric Ramsay, his first managerial job in English football. Only one of the last six permanent Baggies bosses have won their first league game in charge (D1 L4), a 1-0 win for Ryan Mason earlier this season against Blackburn Rovers. He’ll also be the first Ramsay to manage in the Football League since George Ramsay in April 1926. Middlesbrough have lost their last two away league matches, failing to score in both. They haven’t lost three in a row without scoring since a run of four between April and August 2017. West Bromwich Albion’s Mikey Johnston has the most assists of any Championship player this season (9), assisting a goal in each of his last two games at the Hawthorns. Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.
