Boro beat Sheffield, West Brom snatch first point

Tony Pulis’ Middlesbrough claimed an impressive 30 victory over Sheffield United, while West Brom struck late at Nottingham Forest to grab their first point of the English Championship season.

Middlesbrough, who scored twice late on to snatch a 22 draw at Millwall in their seasonopener on Saturday, carried on from where they left off at the Riverside Stadium with Danish international Martin Braithwaite giving them a seventhminute lead on Tuesday.

Defender Aden Flint made it two, before former England winger Stewart Downing’s speculative effort bobbled home in only the 25th minute.

“We played really well first half and I thought the tempo of the game and everything we did was first class,” former Stoke boss Pulis told BBC Tees.

“Second half we dropped off a little bit. But it’s the first week of the season and to be asked to play after Saturday, to put in this performance, especially in the first half, was brilliant.”

Middlesbrough, who lost in the playoff semifinals to Aston Villa last term, now top the fledgling table with four points from two games.

West Brom, bidding to seal an immediate return to the Premier League after suffering relegation from the top flight last term, avoided starting the campaign with backtoback defeats thanks to Matt Phillips’s 87thminute strike.

Forest led through Adlene Guedioura’s deflected shot, but winger Phillips levelled before Baggies substitute Dwight Gayle hit the post on his debut, the day after joining on loan from Newcastle. — AFP