Southampton beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at St Mary's to book their place in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final for the second time in three seasons.

After a goalless first leg on Saturday, Riley McGree slotted Boro into an early lead on the south coast, but Ross Stewart levelled with a towering header on the stroke of half-time.

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The score remained locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes and penalties were looming when, with 116 minutes on the clock, Shea Charles' cross from the right evaded everyone and bounced past Sol Brynn into the back of the net.

Tonda Eckert's men will play Hull at Wembley on Saturday May 23, with a lucrative place in the Premier League on the line.

The tie was overshadowed by 'Spygate' with Southampton charged with a breach of EFL regulations after a member of staff was alleged to have spied on Middlesbrough's training ahead of the first leg.

Southampton have asked the EFL for more time to conduct an internal review as they cooperate with a disciplinary commission.

Middlesbrough make their dominance count... but teams level at the break

Middlesbrough were overwhelmingly dominant in the first half of the first leg, with 17 shots and a combined xG value of 1.39, but they could not make the breakthrough. Within the first five minutes of the start of the second leg, they did.

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Callum Brittain fed a low cross into the box, and the home defence just seemed to freeze for a split-second as McGree swept the opener into the bottom left corner.

For a few minutes, Saints looked shell-shocked. But when they regained their composure, they came within inches of the equaliser when Ryan Manning's exquisite cross was steered past the left-hand post by Stewart on the stretch.

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Stewart atoned for his miss in first-half stoppage time. Sol Brynn saved Manning's initial effort, but the ball spun to the other side of the box, where the striker leapt like a salmon to power in a header.

Tensions rise after alleged discriminatory comment

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Just before that, tensions had threatened to boil over. Referee Andy Madley beckoned Tonda Eckert and Kim Hellberg over on the touchline and, after a brief exchange, the pair had to be separated.

As it transpired, Southampton's Taylor Harwood-Bellis was alleged to have made a discriminatory comment to Middlesbrough's Luke Ayling, which Ayling reported to the referee. He then discussed it with the head coaches.

Sky Sports News understands Madley will report the incident to the EFL.

Harwood-Bellis and Ayling did appear to converse amicably and hug towards the end of the game.

Penalty appeals take centre-stage in tense second half

Both teams had penalty shouts turned down before the midway point of a second half where chances came at a premium.

Middlesbrough were furious not to be awarded a spot-kick after Kuryu Matsuki appeared to handle the ball in the box, before Saints were denied one when Leo Scienza was pushed off the ball by Ayling.

There was another in second-half stoppage time. Dael Fry went to swing to clear a ball, but Cyle Larin nipped in, took the ball away and went over after clashing with the Boro defender. Madley immediately waved away appeals.

But a shootout is avoided at the death

Middlesbrough were running out of steam towards the end, but looked to be limping towards a penalty shootout. It seemed the best-case scenario at that point.

Saints kept going, though, and finally got their reward with four minutes of extra time to play, when Charles' cross found its way past Brynn.

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Boro did push to try and level up in the dying embers, but their efforts were in vain.

The managers

Southampton's Tonda Eckert:

To follow...

Middlesbrough's Kim Hellberg:

To follow...

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