Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick has backed summer signing Emmanuel Latte Lath to continue finding the net after scoring in the 2-0 win over Cardiff.
Since signing from Atalanta in the summer for a fee believed to be around £4million, the Ivorian has been in and out of the side and this was only his second Championship goal.
But the substitute’s cool finish with six minutes remaining put the finishing touches to Boro’s third league win in a row to climb up to 16th, leaving them five points shy of a play-off place.
And Carrick, who watched Latte Lath find the net in the Carabao Cup win at Bradford a week ago, said: “Emmanuel, that’s two in two for him and we know he has goals in him.
“Between him and Josh Coburn we have very different number nines. Josh did a lot of good things and then Emmanuel came on and had a big impact on the game.
“I’m really pleased, overall there were a lot of good things in the game. We had to make changes for different reasons before the game and we improved as the game went on.
“We managed the game really well second half, the boys came off the bench and made an impact.
“We could sense the frustration in the stadium first half and that doesn’t really help the players, but they stuck to it, believed in what we were doing.
“Cardiff were always going to make it difficult and they were on a good run, we knew it would be a tough game. The boys were calm enough and I felt the improvement during the game.”
Cardiff boss Erol Bulut was angered by Isaiah Jones’ 56th-minute opener because he claimed the winger was standing in an offside position when Danish full-back Lukas Engel crossed to him.
That arrived at a time when both teams struggled to create openings and the game could have gone either way.
Once Latte Lath had slotted in the second there was no way back for Cardiff, whose four-match winning run in the league came to an end.
Bulut, whose side slipped out of the top six with this defeat, said: “For both teams in the first half it was a tactical game.
“The second half we showed tiredness from the travelling from the last games, and also today we had to change a few positions because of injuries. This is not an excuse.
“But I can say tiredness was a little bit (apparent) second half. The first goal changed the game, and if you watch the first goal it was a clear offside.
“After the first goal we had to push more to score. We couldn’t manage to score. In the first half we had that Karlan Grant chance, if that goes in it would have been much different.
“We have to keep our feet on the ground regardless. This loss is not the end of the world. We will have a good rest and 100 per cent we have to be on the field again.”
Euro 2024 absence caps cruel period for Netherlands midfielder De Roon
Netherlands will be without Marten de Roon at Euro 2024 after an injury blow capped a cruel period for the Atalanta midfielder.
De Roon suffered a muscle injury two weeks ago in Atalanta's 2-0 Coppa Italia final loss to Juventus, subsequently missing Gian Piero Gasperini's side lifting the Europa League with victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
The Netherlands international was in the stands in Dublin for the 3-0 win over Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions that secured Atalanta's first European trophy in history.
Having already been named in Ronald Koeman's 30-man provisional squad for the Euros in Germany, starting in June, De Roon suffered another gut-wrenching punch after his absence was confirmed.
"I can't imagine I've had a week in my career, or in my life, that has had so many ups and downs," the Atalanta man wrote on social media on Monday.
"Lost the Coppa Italia, couldn't play the final, win the Europa League.
"In that last euphoric state, I spent a lot of time with the medical staff: it turns out I can't play the Euros.
"I will get over it, I will watch the squad and my friends as a fan, but for now it's a very tough day."
De Roon has won 42 caps for his country and featured at the last European Championships and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
His absence means Koeman has to cut just six players down from his provisional squad for the final 23-man selection, which will be announced on Wednesday.
Netherlands open their Euro 2024 campaign against Poland on June 16 before facing France and Austria in the group stages.
Koeman's squad assembled on Monday for their pre-tournament training camp, ahead of warm-up matches with Canada and Iceland.
Bochum avoid Bundesliga relegation after play-off penalty drama downs Dusseldorf
Bochum will be playing in the Bundesliga once again next campaign after staving off relegation with a penalty shoot-out victory over Fortuna Dusseldorf in the play-offs.
Heiko Butscher's side finished 16th in the German top-flight table in the 2023-24 season, though got the better of their 2.Bundesliga opponents to secure another season in the competition.
Needing to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first-leg play-off defeat, Philipp Hofmann stole the show with a goal in either half before Kevin Stoger's 70th-minute penalty sent the tie to extra time.
The pair could not be separated across an additional 30 minutes at Dusseldorf Arena, ensuring spot-kicks were required to decide the fate of the two Bundesliga hopefuls.
Andre Hoffmann missed Dusseldorf's first but Erhan Masovic also faltered, leaving a winner-takes-all scenario in a sudden-death shoot-out with the score at 4-4.
Maximilian Wittek then converted before Takashi Uchino fired wide, sealing a 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory for Bochum after a 3-0 win on Monday snatched a 3-3 aggregate draw.
Dusseldorf finished third in Germany's second division this season and will be forced for, at least, another campaign in 2. Bundesliga after this play-off heartbreak.
This was the first time a play-off has gone to penalties since the Bundesliga reintroduced the fixture, with Bochum ultimately prevailing to keep their top-flight status intact.
Mitrovic clinches last-gasp success for Saudi Pro League champions Al-Hilal
Aleksandar Mitrovic produced a last-gasp winner for Al-Hilal as the Saudi Pro League champions signed off with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Al-Wedha on Monday.
Jorge Jesus' side finished the league campaign unbeaten across the 34-game season, though needed late heroics from top scorer Mitrovic to snatch all three points.
Mohamed Kanno opened the scoring for the visiting champions in the first half but Yahya Naji's second-half leveller pegged Al-Hilal back at King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium.
Yet Mitrovic provided the decisive moment in the 92nd minute, converting a Mohammed Al Burayk assist for his 28th league goal of the season.
The Serbia international ranks only behind Cristiano Ronaldo in this campaign's scoring charts, after the Al-Nassr forward claimed a piece of Saudi League history in a 4-2 victory over Al-Ittihad.
Ronaldo moved past Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – after his deadly double took him to 35 strikes and broke the single-season scoring record in the competition.
Victory for Al-Nassr means they finish second behind the impressive Al-Hilal, while Al-Ahli had already secured third in the standings before their 1-0 victory over Al-Fayha.
Roberto Firmino scored the only goal of the game in that narrow triumph, finding the net after 85 minutes at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium.
At the other end of the table, Abha Club – who had Marcel Tisserand sent off late on – suffered heartbreak on the final day after losing 2-1 to bottom-placed Al-Hazem to seal their relegation.
Ahmed Abdu opened the scoring to boost Abha's survival hopes but second-half goals from Muhammed Badamosi and Mohammed Al Thani proved their undoing.
Al-Akhoud beat the drop after overcoming Al-Tai, who went down with Abha and Al-Hazem, 2-0 thanks to goals from Saviour Godwin and Leandre Tawamba at Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium.
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