Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough: FLW report as McBurnie heroics send Tigers back to Premier League | OneFootball

FLW report live from Wembley for the Championship play-off final

Hull City ended their nine-year exile from the Premier League in the most dramatic of fashions, defeating Middlesbrough 1-0 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

After the most tense of affairs, Oli McBurnie netted his 18th and most crucial goal of the season in the fifth minute of second half stoppage-time, capitalising on the most costly of errors from Boro goalkeeper, Sol Brynn.

Sergej Jakirovic's team were then able to hang on to the most priceless of scorelines against Kim Hellberg's men, who saw their season end in further drama and hurt following the spygate scandal surrounding their play-off semi-finals versus Southampton.

Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the opening 10 minutes in North London proved to be cagey, with both sides looking to cause issues from wide areas to no avail, before a nasty collision between Matt Crooks and Alan Browne saw the Boro midfielder come off worse.

The first clear attempt came on 16 minutes, with Aidan Morris evading Regan Slater's challenge before dragging a low effort wide from 20 yards. David Strelec then glanced a close-range header wide from a Browne cross as City were put under intense defensive pressure.

Brynn was called into action for the first time on 24 minutes as Lewie Coyle's glancing header from Liam Millar's deep cross needing to be tipped over the crossbar, before fellow full-back, Ryan Giles, was given time to line up a strike which ultimately sailed into the stands.

A neat interchange on halfway between Crooks and McBurnie seven minutes before the break sent Millar one-on-one with Brynn, but the Reds shot-stopper read the through ball to perfection to deny the Canadian a clear goalscoring chance.

Semi-final hero, Mohamed Belloumi, then got his first sight of goal from 20 yards, with the Algerian seeing an effort similar to his strike against Millwall bending the wrong side of Brynn's right-hand post. Jakirovic's men certainly saw their belief grow further in the half's final minutes when McBurnie flashed a header off the crossbar.

In the final seconds of the half, quick thinking from Brynn and a slip from Charlie Hughes presented Strelec with an opportunity which also flew just wide of the post.

The Teessiders looked to force the initiative early in the second period, with Morgan Whittaker's fizzing strike deflecting off John Egan, before two successive corners ended with captain Dael Fry heading over.

Hull's first chance after the restart was a tame one, however, as Crooks failed to punish his former side with a free header from Coyle's hanging delivery.

With the encounter turning end-to-end on the hour mark, Hughes was on hand to block another Strelec effort, whilst Belloumi's latest mazy run ended with a strike easily gathered by Brynn.

After a handful of changes from Jakirovic and Hellberg, one of those for Boro, Sontje Hansen, thought he'd opened the scoring with a low curling strike which agonisingly rolled across Pandur's net after a fingertip, even though he was deemed offside.

Hull substitute, Joe Gelhardt, then worked his first shooting chance with an improvised effort from a tight angle that was dragged wide with nine minutes to go.

The tensions only rose when eight minutes of added time were allocated at the end of the encounter, before McBurnie pounced on a dropped ball from Brynn to steer home his eighteenth goal of the campaign from close range.

City were then able to see out the remainder of the 13 eventual added minutes to return to the top-flight, after a season which began with the club tipped for relegation and a transfer fee restriction.

FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 7.5

Lewie Coyle - 7.5 (McNair 98" - N/A)

Semi Ajayi - 7.5

John Egan - 7.5

Charlie Hughes - 8

Ryan Giles - 7 (Hirakawa 76" - 6)

Regan Slater - 6.6 (Lundstram 98" - N/A)

Matt Crooks - 7

Mohamed Belloumi - 6.5 (Drameh 76" - 6)

Liam Millar - 6.5 (Gelhardt 63" - 6)

Oli McBurnie - 8.5

Unused Subs: D.Phillips, A.Hadziahmetovic, K.Dowell, L.Koumas

Middlesbrough

Sol Brynn - 6.5

Luke Ayling - 7.5

Dael Fry - 7

Adilson Malanda - 7

Callum Brittain - 7

Alan Browne - 6 (Sarmiento 97" - N/A)

Aidan Morris - 7.5

Matt Targett - 6 (Ibeh 97" - N/A)

Morgan Whittaker - 6.5

Riley McGree - 7 (Hansen 75" - 6)

David Strelec - 6 (Hackney 70" - 6.5)

Unused Subs: J.Wildsmith, A.Gilbert, L.Castledine, S.Silvera

Sergej Jakirovic reacts as Hull City promoted to Premier League

Reacting to his side's promotion in North London, Jakirovic said: "My emotions are very high.

"After the final whistle, a lot of players cried with happiness. (It's) unbelievable. We aren't (fully) aware of what we've achieved this season.

"An incredible journey. So many problems. It's unbelievable that we achieved this Premier League dream for everyone at the club, especially the players. They deserve everything.

"They've proved on the pitch that they can play good football. Even at times we've struggled, but this is football.

"I'm very happy now for everyone at the club," he added.

On the goalscorer, McBurnie, the Bosnian continued: "We signed him two days before the finished transfer (agreement window, but I spoke with him first in June.

"We waited three months for him, and we were lucky because Chris Wilder at Sheffield United is his 'football father', and he came here (instead).

"I'm very happy because he's everything. A true leader and very big, experienced player in the Championship.

"I saw in the play-offs that he can easily handle pressure, and he's ready for these games.

"He scored two goals v Norwich (to secure the play-offs), and today. Unbelievable."

Kim Hellberg's thoughts as Middlesbrough suffer Wembley heartache

Reacting to Boro's heartbreak at Wembley, Hellberg said: "It's tough.

"I think, in the last two weeks I've poured out all the emotions there are in my body.

"We fought through the game. It's a special game, it doesn't happen too often and I think we drove it with most of the chances.

"We weren't clinical in those opportunities but conceded very few. But, they score and win and you have to congratulate Hull and their supporters," he added.

"We have to be very proud of our supporters and everyone at the club for what they've done in the past two weeks and the last three days (in training) to produce a performance like that.

"Absolutely brilliant. I want to hug my players. They have been 'top'.

"We have to improve (for next season).

Asked on how the pre-game saga and beyond could fuel another promotion charge, the Swede continued: "Absolutely.

"The supporters have been top quality. They deserve to get to the Premier League, and we have to work hard to get there.

"We lost the game, but both teams went at each other for 90 minutes, and we didn't score.

"That is the name of the game, and a lot of credit to everyone for how they handled an exhausting two weeks in so many ways.

"There is no excuse. We were prepared and ready to play the game, but it was tough," he stated.

Attendance