Middlesbrough have moved to the top of the Championship table courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Wigan Athletic at the Riverside Stadium this afternoon.
Patrick Bamford netted his 17th goal of the campaign to move the Teessiders ahead of Bournemouth, who face Ipswich Town this evening, in the standings.
Boro enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening stages but struggled to break down a stubborn Wigan defence, which was content to soak up pressure.
Aitor Karanka's side almost broke the deadlock in the 12th minute when Albert Adomah out wide fired a dangerous ball across the face of the Wigan goal, but no Boro player was coming in to convert it.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 20th minute with their first attempt on target. The ball fell to Bamford 20 yards from goal and, as three Wigan defenders closed him down, his shot was deflected beyond the reach of Ali Al-Habsi.
Boro had the opportunity to double their lead 10 minutes into the second half through Adomah. Adam Reach picked out Jelle Vossen, who then passed it on to Adomah, but the wide man could not finish off the chance from 10 yards out.
Wigan tested Dimitrios Konstantopoulos for the first time in the 64th minute, as Marc-Antoine Fortune brought the ball down and bent a shot towards the bottom corner, which Boro's Greek stopper turned away at full stretch.
Bamford tested Al-Habsi with a curling effort in the 79th minute that the Wigan man tipped wide, before McClean missed a big opportunity to rescue a point when he miscued a volley after being picked out at the back post.
Wigan pushed forward in the closing stages as they tried to snatch an equaliser, but Middlesbrough held firm to go two points clear at the top of the table.
Steven Toplis
