MIDDLESBROUGH WON 2-1 at Sheffield United on Monday to move top of the Championship.
A fifth consecutive win for Boro was secured thanks to first-half strikes from Tommy Conway and Riley McGree as they climbed ahead of Coventry, despite a nervy finish after Patrick Bamford’s second-half goal.
Cork native Alan Browne started, and former Ireland U21 international Alex Gilbert came off the bench for the visitors.
Meanwhile, the Blades’ trio of Ireland internationals — Chiedozie Ogbene, Tom Cannon and Mark McGuinness — were all unused subs.
Frank Lampard’s Coventry were held to a goalless draw at home to Oxford on Saturday, opening the door for Kim Hellberg’s side.
They raced out of the blocks at Bramall Lane as Conway finished unerringly across Blades goalkeeper Michael Cooper with less than 20 minutes on the clock.
McGree then doubled the visitors’ advantage on the stroke of half-time as he reacted quickly to nod into an unguarded net after Hayden Hackney’s effort from distance hit the post and rebounded towards him.
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Boro refused to sit on their laurels in the second period and tried to secure a third goal, which would have ended the match as a contest.
But it was Sheffield United who struck next as Bamford supplied the finishing touch in the 73rd minute at the end of fine play by Kalvin Phillips and Gus Hamer.
It was now a matter of seeing out the match for Boro, and that task was made easier when Joe Rothwell, on for his Blades debut, was given his marching orders for a poor challenge on Browne with 10 minutes remaining.
Donyell Malen of AS Roma scores. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Elsewhere, in the absence of injured Irish international Evan Ferguson, two goals from on-loan Donyell Malen drove Roma to a 2-0 win over Cagliari on Monday, lifting them level with fourth-placed Juventus in Serie A.
Speedy Dutch forward Malen only arrived at Roma on loan from Aston Villa in January to boost Gian Piero Gasperini’s side in their bid for a Champions League spot.
A tight-angled shot found the roof of the Cagliari net on 25 minutes, and Malen doubled the tally running onto a through ball to beat the ‘keeper one-on-one on 65 minutes.
After Juventus dropped two points at home to Lazio on Sunday, they sit fourth on 46 points with Roma now on level pegging, with 14 matches to go.
Inter Milan are the runaway leaders of Serie A with 58 points, eight ahead of city rivals AC Milan, while Napoli, who host Roma this weekend, have 49 in third place.
Roma have won the Uefa Conference League and reached the Europa League final in recent years, but last featured in Europe’s elite club competition in the 2018/19 season when they were eliminated by Porto in the last 16.
Earlier on Monday, Atalanta beat struggling Cremonese 2-1 to consolidate a run of three wins and two draws over their last five Serie A games.
Nikola Krstovic and Davide Zappacosta put Atalanta two up within 25 minutes, but a goal from Cremonese’s Morten Thorsby in time added on forced Atalanta to sweat it out.
Atalanta sit two points behind sixth-placed Como in the Uefa Conference League spot.
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Irish pair feature as Middlesbrough boost Premier League promotion hopes
Championship result:
Italian Serie A results on Monday:
MIDDLESBROUGH WON 2-1 at Sheffield United on Monday to move top of the Championship.
A fifth consecutive win for Boro was secured thanks to first-half strikes from Tommy Conway and Riley McGree as they climbed ahead of Coventry, despite a nervy finish after Patrick Bamford’s second-half goal.
Cork native Alan Browne started, and former Ireland U21 international Alex Gilbert came off the bench for the visitors.
Meanwhile, the Blades’ trio of Ireland internationals — Chiedozie Ogbene, Tom Cannon and Mark McGuinness — were all unused subs.
Frank Lampard’s Coventry were held to a goalless draw at home to Oxford on Saturday, opening the door for Kim Hellberg’s side.
They raced out of the blocks at Bramall Lane as Conway finished unerringly across Blades goalkeeper Michael Cooper with less than 20 minutes on the clock.
McGree then doubled the visitors’ advantage on the stroke of half-time as he reacted quickly to nod into an unguarded net after Hayden Hackney’s effort from distance hit the post and rebounded towards him.
Boro refused to sit on their laurels in the second period and tried to secure a third goal, which would have ended the match as a contest.
But it was Sheffield United who struck next as Bamford supplied the finishing touch in the 73rd minute at the end of fine play by Kalvin Phillips and Gus Hamer.
It was now a matter of seeing out the match for Boro, and that task was made easier when Joe Rothwell, on for his Blades debut, was given his marching orders for a poor challenge on Browne with 10 minutes remaining.
Elsewhere, in the absence of injured Irish international Evan Ferguson, two goals from on-loan Donyell Malen drove Roma to a 2-0 win over Cagliari on Monday, lifting them level with fourth-placed Juventus in Serie A.
Speedy Dutch forward Malen only arrived at Roma on loan from Aston Villa in January to boost Gian Piero Gasperini’s side in their bid for a Champions League spot.
A tight-angled shot found the roof of the Cagliari net on 25 minutes, and Malen doubled the tally running onto a through ball to beat the ‘keeper one-on-one on 65 minutes.
After Juventus dropped two points at home to Lazio on Sunday, they sit fourth on 46 points with Roma now on level pegging, with 14 matches to go.
Inter Milan are the runaway leaders of Serie A with 58 points, eight ahead of city rivals AC Milan, while Napoli, who host Roma this weekend, have 49 in third place.
Roma have won the Uefa Conference League and reached the Europa League final in recent years, but last featured in Europe’s elite club competition in the 2018/19 season when they were eliminated by Porto in the last 16.
Earlier on Monday, Atalanta beat struggling Cremonese 2-1 to consolidate a run of three wins and two draws over their last five Serie A games.
Nikola Krstovic and Davide Zappacosta put Atalanta two up within 25 minutes, but a goal from Cremonese’s Morten Thorsby in time added on forced Atalanta to sweat it out.
Atalanta sit two points behind sixth-placed Como in the Uefa Conference League spot.
– © AFP 2026
Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy
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