Plymouth piled further home misery on Middlesbrough by claiming a much-needed 2-0 win at the Riverside Stadium.
Frustrations grew on Teesside after failing to end a wait since before Christmas for a home victory in the Sky Bet Championship; a run that has stretched to five matches.
Matthew Sorinola’s opener in the seventh minute was followed by Ryan Hardie’s 13th goal of the season in the 31st minute to put Plymouth on track for only their second away win.
Plymouth deserved it too after a first half when Middlesbrough looked nervous in possession at times and defensively unable to thwart danger.
Considering Middlesbrough stunned leaders Leicester a week earlier, and Plymouth’s away troubles, it was the visitors who looked full of confidence and intent in the first half.
It did not take long for Ian Foster’s side to take the lead.
After the visitors were gifted possession on halfway, Plymouth attacked and Darko Gyabi was allowed to curl towards the far post where Tom Glover dived to stop.
The goalkeeper did not do enough to get the ball out of harm’s way and Sorinola was on hand to force beyond Glover and secure his first goal since moving to the Pilgrims from Belgium in January.
The only decent opportunity Middlesbrough created was when Marcus Forss was denied by Conor Hazard after moving to the near post to meet Lewis O’Brien’s cross. The flag went up anyway.
Otherwise Plymouth – who made three changes to the side which lost 3-0 to West Brom – put the red shirts under a lot of pressure defensively when they were on the ball and got their rewards.
Glover had already fumbled an effort from Morgan Whittaker before the second arrived just after the half-hour mark.
Hardie was picked out in too much space by the lively Gyabi. The striker’s first touch was perfect before he was allowed to cut inside and curl round Rav van den Berg and finish in the far corner.
As the boos and jeers got louder Plymouth kept pushing.
Adam Randell almost had a third soon after when he was allowed to run through the centre of the pitch and shoot. Glover stopped the first and then charged forward to block the rebound.
There was another save for Glover to make at his near post after Whittaker had been played in down the right and Middlesbrough reached half-time needing a complete reset. It did not come.
Plymouth were first to go close again after the restart. Gyabi’s pass into the area was collected by Hardie, whose first touch rounded Hazard but the angle was too tight to find the net.
Riley McGree missed the target from distance soon after and that was as close as Middlesbrough got. The Aussie was replaced, along with Finn Azaz, as head coach Michael Carrick looked for an injection from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Sam Greenwood.
Yet Jordan Houghton’s low drive was next to arrive and, despite plenty of possession, Middlesbrough could not create anything of real note.
When they eventually did, Sammy Silvera’s shot went for a throw-in when he was unmarked at the back post in the latter stages.
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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