Portsmouth's stoppage-time winner stuns Boro
Middlesbrough's automatic promotion hopes were severely dented as Conor Chaplin's 97th-minute winner helped lowly Portsmouth to a shock 1-0 win at Riverside Stadium.
The result sees Middlesbrough remain fourth in the EFL Championship after Ipswich Town's earlier win over rival Norwich City, with the Tractor Boys also boasting two games in hand.
Chaplin's late goal also improved things at the opposite end of the table for Portsmouth, which hauled itself out of the bottom three and above Oxford United.
The hosts came close to opening the scoring early on through Alan Browne, but his low drive was repelled by Nicolas Schmid after good work from winger Jeremy Sarmiento.
Schmid again came to Portsmouth's rescue early in the second half to deny Riley McGree's fierce attempt, before Tommy Conway saw his shot narrowly evade the far post.
But for all of Middlesbrough's pressure, it was undone in second-half stoppage-time by Chaplin, who deflected Adrian Segecic's volley from the edge of the box into the net.
Kim Hellberg would have known the importance of keeping the pressure on Ipswich after its earlier win over Norwich, but his Boro team was unable to respond, with its poor run at such a crucial stage of the campaign continuing.
Middlesbrough is now winless in its past six Championship games, its longest such run of the season, and it was once again profligacy in the final third that proved costly in its quest for a return to the Premier League.
