Cyrus Christie earned himself redemption with the 88th-minute equaliser which gave Middlesbrough a draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage.

With the ball bouncing around the Fulham penalty area, Christie kept his nerve to volley under the body of home keeper David Button to earn Boro a point.

Just two minutes earlier, Christie had allowed Ryan Sessegnon to send over a deep cross on to the head of Aboubakar Kamara, who nodded the ball in off the post.

The whirr of excitement in the closing stages made up for the opening 75 minutes which, while pleasing on the eye, was short on goalscoring chances.

It took just 14 seconds for the first attempt on goal with Middlesbrough midfielder skipping through but failing to connect properly with his 20-yard effort.

Next, Fulham midfielder Oliver Norwood spotted that Boro keeper Darren Randolph had drifted away from his near post at a free-kick but the goalkeeper scrambled to save.

For all of Fulham’s possession, their only serious attempt on goal came from just inside the area with Floyd Ayite foiled by Randolph.

At the other end, Boro right-back Christie, who was more effective going forward than trying to stop Sessegnon from galloping past him, jinked his way into the Fulham area. From his pass, Lewis Baker’s shot was always rising as it flew over the bar.

The second half followed a similar pattern. Another Norwood free-kick came close, but this time it ended up on top of the net.

Fulham were guilty of overplaying after 65 minutes, allowing Jonny Howson to set in motion an attack which ended with Patrick Bamford striking a left-foot shot just wide of the post. Marvin Johnson was similarly just off target three minutes later with a low drive from just inside the area.

Neither opportunity was as clear-cut as a missed chance for Kamara 15 minutes from time, but the Fulham player made amends with a goal that he thought was the winner before Christie’s strike.