Wycombe Wanderers vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.
Adams Park.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Wycombe and Middlesbrough at Adams Park as goals from Marcus Browne, Marcus Tavernier and Chuba Akpom earn a victory for Neil Warnock's side.
Saturday 2 January 2021 18:10, UK
Middlesbrough maintained their play-off push with a 3-1 comeback win over Wycombe, who remain rooted to the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship.
Uche Ikpeazu's first goal since joining from Hearts in the summer put the strugglers ahead after just three minutes at Adams Park.
However, Boro responded with two goals in six first-half minutes from Marcus Browne and Marcus Tavernier, before Chuba Akpom made sure of the win late on.
Neil Warnock's side are now just a point shy of the top six while Wycombe are four points from safety.
The Chairboys were looking to build on their midweek victory over Cardiff and got off to a flyer, with Ikpeazu breaking the deadlock in the third minute on what was only his second start for the club.
After Jack Grimmer found the striker down the left, he cut inside from the right and curled a left-footed shot past the diving Marcus Bettinelli.
Grimmer then fired low into the side-netting as Wanderers looked to add to their lead but Middlesbrough, who had lacked composure early on, soon found their feet with two quickfire goals through Browne and Tavernier.
Browne headed in a Paddy McNair corner on the half-hour mark to draw the visitors level and Tavernier then finished off a driving run by shifting the ball on to his left foot and firing home a low drive.
Wycombe had the chance to pull level shortly before the interval when DarylHorgan found space down the left before cutting the ball back to Anis Mehmeti, but the teenager saw his strike held by Bettinelli.
The home side threatened again on the hour when Ryan Tafazolli headed narrowly over from a Joe Jacobson corner while Scott Kashket came even closer minutes later, clipping the crossbar with a deflected strike.
The woodwork intervened once more 12 minutes from time, with Boro left frustrated this time when Tavernier's powerful drive smacked the bar before bouncing down and to safety.
However, Boro ended the game in the ascendancy and McNair was the provider again as his dangerous delivery struck the angle of post and bar and was prodded in by Akpom nine minutes from time.
Wycombe's Gareth Ainsworth: "We started really well with some really big positives. Uche scored a great goal but after that we were second best in a lot of areas. It was a much better us today but they're a good side - strong, powerful, organised. A typical Neil Warnock side and they deserve the win.
"The chances were there. We've got to make sure we take them at this level. We don't get as many as we did in the lower leagues but no complaints on the result. We were second best at times and it's not often I've had to say that, maybe 2-3 times this season. But we'll take that on the chin. We've got to learn from that."
Middlesbrough's Neil Warnock: "Once our first goal went in I thought we played some good stuff and could have had a few more. But we know what it's like at Adams Park. I've just said I would be proud to manage both teams today because they gave absolutely everything.
"Gareth [Ainsworth, Wycombe's manager] knows what I think about how they got promotion. He's a miracle worker. When you've got lads giving everything like that, I want my lads to do the same and then their ability might show through. The thing about coming here is that if you get on the bus with all three points you've got the job done, because not many teams will like coming here. We've dominated certain games and ended up losing. I thought the changes made a difference."
