West Brom 2-3 Middlesbrough: FLW report as Eric Ramsay suffers late heartbreak in Baggies debut v Boro | OneFootball

FLW report from The Hawthorns for this Championship fixture

Eric Ramsay's reign as West Bromwich Albion head coach began with a heartbreaking 3-2 against Middlesbrough at The Hawthorns on Friday night.

Albion found themselves a goal behind two minutes before half-time when Alex Gilbert's initial effort was turned into his own net by Charlie Taylor, before Sam Silvera doubled the advantage for Kim Hellberg's side after 58 minutes.

The West Midlands side then staged an initial comeback that almost earned them a point as Isaac Price fired home a stunning free-kick with 15 minutes to go, before Jed Wallace netted his second goal in five days with a smart finish into the bottom corner.

However, their hard work was undone in the final minute of normal time when Reds substitute, Delano Burgzorg fired past Josh Griffiths to hand Middlesbrough a crucial victory in their quest for automatic promotion.

West Brom 2-3 Middlesbrough

It was almost a dream start for Ramsay when Aune Heggebo pounced on Luke Ayling's mistake, with the experienced defender bailed out by Sol Brynn's smart stop.

A deep 10th-minute corner from Callum Styles was then turned over by Chris Mepham after Brynn could only get a slight touch on the midfielder's inswinging delivery.

Middlesbrough's first meaningful effort came 25 minutes in when Aidan Morris was allowed to drift inside from the left and bend an effort which sailed wide. A second came 10 minutes later when Gilbert almost connected with the left-midfielder's teasing cross, before Morgan Whittaker's curling strike off the back of a free-kick routine was easily gathered by the Albion keeper.

The Baggies then looked to catch Boro cold when Karlan Grant was sent through, although his scuppered effort was straight at Brynn, whilst Tommy Conway's immediate response for the visitors was palmed away by Griffiths.

Hellberg's side would take the lead two minutes before the interval in bizzare fashion, though, as Gilbert was afforded space to fire an effort which rebounded off the left-hand post and into the net on the rebound as Taylor was unable to move himself out of the ball's path.

After a slow start to the second period, Heggebo looked to find his ninth of the campaign from distance after neatly taking the ball under his spell. However, the Norwegian was once again thwarted by Brynn, who tipped the ball to relative safety.

The visitors doubled their advantage three minutes later when Whittaker's initial play gave Silvera the time and space to initially drive at Chris Mepham before firing a low effort across Griffiths in front of the travelling support.

It was almost 3-0 with 20 minutes to go as Adilson Malanda came mightily close to a first Middlesbrough goal when his close-range header bounced just over the crossbar from a Whittaker free-kick.

The hosts' first response to going two behind came when Karlan Grant fired a low shot straight at Brynn from just inside the box, before the experienced forward fell under pressure from Silvera, with Josh Smith awarding a free-kick rather than a penalty as replays showcased an extremely tight call.

The decision paled into insignificance, though, when Price drew Albion back into the contest from the set-piece with a curling effort that flew straight past the Boro shot-stopper.

The Northern Ireland international then came extremely close to a quick-fire double as he was left in acres of space before bending a curling strike agonisingly wide. The home crowd were then sent into raptures with 10 minutes to go as Albion captain, Wallace, fired home his second goal in five days after Samuel Iling-Junior's low cross was turned into his path by Hackney.

However, in their first spell of dominance after letting their initial lead slip, an initial Morris effort which was well-saved by Griffiths was followed up by Burgzorg's winner after the Dutchman was played through by Silvera as the game ticked into added time.

FT: West Brom 2-3 Middlesbrough

Player Ratings

West Brom

Josh Griffiths - 6

Chris Mepham - 6 (Campbell 76" - 6)

Nat Phillips - 6 (Dike 92" - N/A)

Charlie Taylor - 6

Mikey Johnston - 6

Krystian Bielik - 6 (Wallace 64" - 7.5)

Callum Styles - 7.5

Samuel Iling-Junior - 6.5

Isaac Price - 7

Aune Heggebo - 6 (Maja 64" - 6)

Karlan Grant - 6

Unused Subs: J.Wildsmith, A.Gilchrist, C.Deeming, H.Whitwell, O.Bostock

Middlesbrough

Sol Brynn - 6

Alan Browne - 6

Adilson Malanda - 7.5

Luke Ayling - 6.5

Matt Targett - 7.5

Sam Silvera - 8.5

Hayden Hackney - 6.5

Alex Gilbert - 7 (Burgzorg 65" - 7.5)

Aidan Morris - 8

Morgan Whittaker - 7.5 (Fry 82" - 6)

Tommy Conway - 6.5 (Castledine 92" - N/A)

Unused Subs: J.McLaughlin, F.Munroe, L.McCabe, A.Kante, S.Hansen, S.Nypan

Reacting to a heartbreaking defeat in his first game as Albion boss, Ramsay's initial thoughts were: "It's very difficult not to feel very disappointed. I wouldn't be human if that wasn't the case.

"And, certainly after we got back into the game, you could almost only see it going one way. The fact it hasn't is incredibly disappointing," he added.

"But, I almost felt that coming into the game, irrespective of the outcome, it was going to be information for us as a coaching staff and as players.

"Of course, some of what we set out to do worked relatively well, some didn't. But, it was always going to give us food for thought as we moved into Tuesday.

"I'm very much wrapped into the process that we will continue to get better, and I'm not going to get drawn into the highs and lows.

"But, it's difficult not to experience that today as a 'low' low in the first half and almost a 'high' high at the end," Ramsay continued.

"But, as I say, it's difficult as a human being not to get swept up in that."

Kim Hellberg reacts to Middlesbrough's late show vs West Brom

Reacting to his side's dramatic success in B71, Hellberg's post-match verdict began: "I'm very happy with lots of things.

"I think, the first 10 minutes, they played over our press and got a lot of second balls which gave them momentum.

"They got one chance when we lost the ball from the throw-in. Otherwise, they don't get so many chances but get some balls into the box, some corners and were starting to get the crowd with them," the Swede added.

"Then, I think we adapted a little, moved one position defensively and got a better grip of the second balls. I think, from then on, it's one team on the pitch for a lot of the time.

"We are, in the beginning of that period, not getting as low as we wanted to. After that, from the 25th minute, we are starting to feel a lot around the box, and they had to keep the ball away so we gathered it again and kept going.

"You get the feeling the goal is coming, and we scored, which was deserved," he claimed.

"Then we come to the period where we have the header from Malanda to make it 3-0, and then they score the free-kick directly after, which gets the crowd and them going. They started to believe a little bit

"They score the next chance to make it 2-2, and the game is there for the taking. It's open and back and forth.

"Then I think it's unbelievably strong (from my players) to get back to taking control of the game. To score that type of goal is an unbelievable football goal where we play it through.