Adam Clayton is interviewed on the pitch at full-time, which is never a good idea, and he manages to slip in the word “bollocked” which doesn’t please BT Sport. He accepts the player of the match award in what was one of the most impressive performances of any Championship side this season. Boro move three points clear of Brighton at the top and have every chance of being there in May if they continue to play like this.
For Brighton and Chris Hughton, their streak is over but they would have taken this scenario at the start of the season and are still right in the thick of things. Today, however, they were totally outplayed. That’s all from me, thanks for reading. Bye.
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Full-time: Brighton 0-3 Middlesbrough
Craig Pawson puts Brighton out of their misery. Their remarkable unbeaten run is over and Middlesbrough will be top of the Championship at Christmas.
90+1 mins: There are three minutes of added ball-kicking.
89 mins: Van La Parra tries to cross from the right but it’s blocked, rebounds on to his knee, and deflects away for a Middlesbrough goal-kick.
86 mins: Bruno scythes down his man and should have been booked really, but perhaps Craig Pawson can’t be doing with the extra paperwork. Up in the stands, José sneaks off.
83 mins: This match is petering out, understandably so. It feels like a training exercise, Boro practising their defensive shape as Brighton try to break them down. Nothing comes of the latest attack and Boro make their final change: Adam Clayton comes off and Bruno Zuculini replaces him, on loan from Man City.
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80 mins: Van La Parra takes his 10,000th free-kick of the match and it is about as effective as the rest. In fairness to him Boro have defended them excellently. Kalas is down on the ground holding his face and the replay shows Zamora caught him with an elbow. If it was 2-2 there might be some peeved players in red right now, but Boro aren’t too concerned and Craig Pawson lets it go. Kalas dusts himself down and carries on.
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77 mins: Bruno bends a deep cross for Zamora and his first impact is to get a header on target, but it’s blocked near the line by Ayala.
75 mins: Chelsea loanee Tomas Kalas comes on for Boro in place of Nsue. Bobby Zamora replaces Tomer Hemed in Brighton’s attack and Andrew Crofts is on for Jamie Murphy in Hughton’s final change.
73 mins: News has broken that Guus Hiddink is replacing José Mourinho at Chelsea for the rest of the season. In the stands, Mourinho looks cold and angry. Someone else for him to dislike then. On the pitch not a great deal is happening. Brighton are about to make changes.
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69 mins: Brighton free-kick in an attacking position. It’s easily headed clear.
“Sorry for being such a defensive and negative team,” emails Nicholas Walton. I presume this is a sarcastic Middlesbrough fan rather than a genuinely apologetic Brighton supporter, though the fact that Boro have been incredibly well organised and scored from a couple of set-pieces slightly undermines the point. But yes, Aitor Karanka’s side deserve plenty of plaudits for this one.
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66 mins: Middlesbrough make a change: Diego Fabbrini comes on for Kike in attack. The Amex is eerily quiet.
64 mins: Another corner was not dealt with by Brighton. It ran through for Ayala at the back of the box who shaped to shoot with his right before selling a brilliant dummy and going for the top corner with his left. It might have been getting there but plenty of Brighton defenders were on the line, so Stuani stepped up two yards out to nudge the ball through the blue and white shirts with his forehead. The unbeaten run is coming to an end.
GOAL! Brighton 0-3 Middlesbrough (Stuani, 62 mins)
Another close-range header and that should be that.
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60 mins: I can tell Brighton haven’t done a lot because that’s the first time I’ve had to write Konstantopoulos. Chris Hughton has an issue here: Huenemeier is down holding his leg and he doesn’t look in great shape. The centre-back limps away and Connor Goldson comes on for his debut.
58 mins: Wilson executes a lovely lay-off to get Hemed in and he bursts towards goal with purpose, but the left footed strike is screwed wide. So wide in fact that Brighton collect the ball again near the corner flag, working it across the box for Murphy in some space who shoots first time, but Konstantopoulos punches the ball over the bar.
55 mins: Calderon takes a slack touch on the sideline and the ball runs off the pitch for a throw. This is not Brighton at their best.
52 mins: Kayal sweeps a cross-field pass to Murphy arriving at the backpost, who heads the ball first-time to Hemed in the box. He can’t escape a couple of Middlesbrough defenders and it’s eventually cleared, but that was promising from the home side.
49 mins: But it’s Middlesbrough who have the first opportunity. Leadbitter pulls back an outswinging cross and just as with the second goal, Brighton fail to deal with it. Ayala, I think, is the player who cracks a half-volley straight at Stockdale, who parries clear.
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Peeep! The second period is under way. Neither manager has made a half-time change. Brighton have started on the front foot.
Half-time entertainment
Seeing as Middlesbrough are staking a decent claim to be a Premier League team next season, here’s a look a back to their top-flight days and a game from 2004 when when Boro beat Man Utd 3-2, courtesy of two Juninho headers and Joseph-Désiré Job. Look out for a young Stewart Downing full of promise, and a young Steve McClaren, full of promise.
Half-time correspondence
“Great to have a game from the championship MBM’d for a change!” emails John with no surname. “I’m a fan of neither team, but it’s such a relief not to have to read about the ubiquitous top four for a change.”
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Half-time: Brighton 0-2 Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough fully deserve their lead and the second goal was beautifully timed, from the visitors’ point of view, a sucker-punch just before the break. Brighton have an awful lot to do to preserve their unbeaten record and prevent Boro from becoming the Christmas table toppers.
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45+1 mins: Leadbitter’s outswinging corner was met by Daniel Ayala who had so much more appetite than Gordon Greer for the ball and slammed a header goalwards. It got a couple of deflections, the last off Albert Adomah’s head, before beating the diving Stockdale.
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GOAL! Brighton 0-2 Middlesbrough (Adomah, 44 mins)
Not sure he knew much about it, but Adomah has given Boro a crucial second.
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42 mins: Van La Parra crosses first time but it’s not deep enough and Friend heads clear at the near post. Brighton need to get in and have a chat about what to do next, because not much has come off this half.
39 mins: Hemed’s low diagonal pass finds Murphy in the box who can’t quite get it out from under his feet, and Ayala clears for Boro.
36 mins: Van La Parra collects a pass on the run in the box and as he jinks towards the byline takes a shoulder barge from George Friend. Brighton appeal for a penalty but Craig Pawson is well positioned and waves play on.
34 mins: Stewart Downing goes the very, very long way to turn around in the middle the pitch, such is his staunch defiance against using his right foot. Best not take a risk. The ball eventually works to the left and Adomah, who created the first goal, feeds Friend on the overlap, but the Boro left-back gives away a goal-kick when it probably should have been given as a corner.
31 mins: Middlesbrough are very well setup when they defend and Brighton are struggling for ideas. Dale Stephens decides to have a go from 25 yards on the volley and it’s not a bad effort, but it flies wide.
29 mins: A balloon on the pitch is popped by Gordon Greer. Cheers all round. As you may be able to tell, not a lot is happening.
26 mins: That moment by Wilson has lifted the home crowd a little, that is until their latest attack ends when Middlesbrough defender Ayala is chopped down by Van La Parra. He gets a talking to.
24 mins: A flash of quality as James Wilson collects the ball 30 yards out, one-on-one with his centre-half and immediately goes forwards, dribbling into the box at pace to open up a sight of goal before firing a little high and wide.
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22 mins: A bit of pressure down the left finally comes to something for Brighton with a free-kick near the corner flag. Van La Parra hits it straight at the defender charging him down, and Kayal then smashes either a terrible shot or an even worse cross into the crowd.
19 mins: Bruno boots the ball into his own face and it goes out for a throw. He walks away like you do when you sprinted for the train and just missed it, but definitely weren’t bothered.
17 mins: Brighton are seeing a bit more of the ball but just haven’t been able to get anything going. Leadbitter picks up a loose one in midfield and Boro break, but Ayala’s searching pass down the right is a little heavy and it runs off field for a Brighton throw.
15 mins: Bruno hoiks a ball in the air in pub-football style, and Leadbitter flies in full throttle on Huenemeier to win it. The Boro midfielder gets a lot more man than ball and is booked. A little reckless, and pointless, that one.
12 mins: Chris Hughton, in textbook winter combination of suit with wooly jumper, is up out of his technical area dishing out some instructions and possibly a general boot up the backside. Brighton have looked a little sluggish so far.
16 - Kike has scored his first goal in 16 appearances for Middlesbrough, since last netting on August 18th 2015. Opener.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 19, 2015
9 mins: Middlesbrough look very comfortable in these early stages. Clayton bends a ball into the channel for Downing to collect, but he is ushered backwards and eventually Brighton get their foot on it.
6 mins: This was all very simple by Middlesbrough. They worked the ball out to the left flank for Adomah who faced up to his man, threw a couple of stepovers and then curled an inswinger with his right-foot towards the six-yard box. Kike reacted first, getting across his man to bury a close-range header which Stockdale could only get a hand to.
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GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Middlesbrough (Kike, 4 mins)
What a start! Boro have dominated the opening minutes and got their reward.
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3 mins: Boro make a positive start, getting hold of the ball and pinning Brighton back in their own half, but Nsue’s low cross is easily gathered by Stockdale.
Peeeeep! Brighton get things under way. It’s traditional home kit v traditional home kit, which is nice.
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The best two teams in the Championship so far this season are out on the pitch at the Amex. Hands shaken, exuberant sprints into position taken care of, and the battle for Christmas No1 is ready to go.
Look who’s in the stands...
The Watching One: Jose (with a new haircut) is at Brighton v Middlesbrough this lunchtime #CFC #bhafc #mfc pic.twitter.com/qCGXpPaTjQ
— PA Sport (@pasport) December 19, 2015
Line-ups
Brighton: Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Huenemeier, Calderon, van La Parra, Stephens, Kayal, Murphy, Hemed, Wilson
Subs: Maenpaa (GK), Goldson, Chicksen, Crofts, Ince, Manu, Zamora
Middlesbrough: Dimi, Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Adomah, Clayton, Leadbitter, Downing, Stuani, Kike
Subs: Mejias, Amorebieta, de Pena, Kalas, Fabbrini, Forshaw, Zuculini
Referee: Craig Pawson
Premable
Do you ever have that dream where you are caught in a black hole of spiralling house prices and swelling rents, circling further down into a pit of despair and general oblivion until you try to reach up and grab a depressing studio flat in Lewisham but never quite hold on? No, me neither (wipes away tear), but this is how any Championship contender is going to feel come the summer should they spend all year at the top only to miss out on next season’s Premier League, and the TV bounty that comes with it.
Brighton and Middlesbrough are level at the summit with 43 points from 21 games, and this is one of those matches which will shape who joins the big league with perfect timing.
Brighton are still unbeaten, going for their very own invincibles year. That they might have lost five games and still have more points is not lost on Chris Hughton, who continues to stress he and his players are not getting carried away with the excitement of it all, but surely they cannot help but walk with extra chest-puff knowing 21 sides have tried and failed to beat them.
Then again, despite the humble schtick, as the only unbeaten team you can’t help but be the loudest proudest star at the top of the tree, sitting up there all smug provoking passers by to swing at you with a baseball bat. We’ll find out if Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough can end that run today, and take a major step towards promotion in the process.
Kick-off: 12:30pm GMT
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