Huddersfield 0-2 Middlesbrough: Boro seal hard-fought win

Adam Clayton scored his first Middlesbrough goal to seal a hard-fought 2-0 win at former club Huddersfield in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Midfielder Clayton, 26, signed for Boro for £1.5million in summer 2014 but went through the whole of last season without hitting the target.

Town made high-flying Boro fight all the way and the result was in doubt until the 84th minute when Emilio Nsue added the second, also his first for the club.

Back-to-back defeats for Huddersfield have come under new head coach David Wagner, whose high-tempo football will take time and patience and is clearly a work in progress.

Huddersfield outplayed Boro throughout the first half but went behind to Clayton's ninth-minute strike.

A stray pass from Town defender Martin Cranie led to a corner from which Boro scored. Stewart Downing's set-piece was half-cleared by Emyr Huws and Clayton picked up the ball, side-stepped two defenders and fired home a deflected shot.

Boro almost let Town back in the game immediately when Albert Adomah brought down Jamie Paterson on the edge of the box.

Nahki Wells curled the free-kick around the wall but the ball came back off the crossbar.

Wells should have equalised shortly afterwards when a quick ball out of defence allowed Sean Scannell to go on the run.

Scannell's early cross found Wells unmarked at the far post but Middlesbrough goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos rushed out to deny him.

Konstantopoulos saved his side again twice more as the wet conditions allowed Town to pass the ball fast and slick. Ben Chilwell, making his debut on loan from Leicester, centred for Scannell whose effort was again kept out by Konstantopoulos.

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Huddersfield had a furious demand for a penalty when Joe Lolley went down in the box but referee Eddie Ilderton allowed play to continue and the goalkeeper came to the rescue again.

The hosts continued to press with Huws heading over and Tommy Smith blasting wide.

Boro head coach Aitor Karanka reshaped his side at half-time and his players contained Huddersfield better thereafter, stifling the chances.

Chilwell proved threatening for the Terriers but the final ball was lacking as the all-action style favoured by Wagner started to have an affect.

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Wagner used all his subs and one of them, Flo Bojaj, fluffed his shot nine minutes from time, two minutes after coming on.

Boro sealed it in the 84th minute when substitute Adam Forshaw broke away down the right and found Nsue's forward run.

Nsue cut inside, beat a defender and slotted into the bottom corner to plunge Huddersfield into the bottom three and take his own team up to second.