Sheffield United 1-2 Middlesbrough: McGree stars to leapfrog Coventry into top spot

Middlesbrough climbed to the top of the Championship with a 2-1 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

First-half goals from Tommy Conway and Riley McGree were enough to get Kim Hellberg’s side over the line, and above Coventry City, as a late red card for Joe Rothwell eased the pressure following Patrick Bamford’s goal in the 73rd minute.

It was an end-to-end first half as both teams combined for 23 shots before the break, 15 to eight in favour of Boro, with Conway firing over in the sixth minute before Morgan Whittaker headed straight at Michael Cooper for the visitors.

Boro eventually took the lead in the 19th minute when McGree slid Conway through on goal, and the Scottish striker swept the ball into the bottom-left corner while being challenged.

Bamford missed a golden opportunity to equalise after being found by Gustavo Hamer, and he was left to rue that mistake when McGree doubled Boro’s advantage on the stroke of half-time, heading in on the rebound after Hayden Hackney struck the post.

Hamer picked out Bamford with another brilliant pass in the second half, and this time the former Chelsea forward finished past Sol Brynn, but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Joe Rothwell was shown a red card on debut for a reckless challenge on Alan Browne.

SIX IN A ROW! pic.twitter.com/LW8RVCmOZi

— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) February 9, 2026

Data Debrief: Boro complete the double

Boro have now won four of their last five league games against Sheff United (L1), and have completed the double over them for the first time since 2010-11.

The visitors produced 1.44 expected goals (xG) from 19 shots to the Blades’ 0.88 from 13 attempts, with Boro’s clinical nature proving to be the difference between the two sides at Bramall Lane.

And McGree’s goal and assist highlighted a strong performance from the Australian. Along with scoring with his only shot, he created the second-most chances for his side (three), won the most free-kicks (three), won possession the second-most times (nine) and won five of his seven duels.