Rotherham United 1-0 Middlesbrough: Millers clinch Championship safety

Rotherham secured Championship safety with a game to spare as Hakeem Odoffin’s goal proved enough to beat 10-man Middlesbrough at New York Stadium.

And moments after the break Odoffin sparked jubilation among the home supporters when he lashed a 20-yard shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The result leaves Rotherham five points clear of the bottom three, while third-bottom Reading will now need Huddersfield to lose against Sheffield United on Thursday and then beat the Terriers themselves on the final day to avoid relegation.

It means the Millers will spend consecutive seasons in the same division for the first time since 2016-17 when a three-year stay in the Championship ended in relegation – with their past two second-tier campaigns lasting a single season.

Matt Taylor’s side have won just six of 31 league matches since they last secured back-to-back victories in October, but have been helped by Reading’s spiralling form and last month’s six-point deduction.

For play-off bound Boro, a fourth defeat in their past six away games means they will finish the season in fourth place and face the fifth-placed side in the play-offs, while Luton are guaranteed third place.

Riley McGree almost gave Boro a seventh-minute lead when he dinked the ball over goalkeeper Viktor Johansson, but Richard Wood got back to hook it off the line.

Moments later, Jamie Lindsay blasted over when well placed at the other end, but the chances proved a false dawn as neither goalkeeper was troubled for the rest of a stop-start first half.

Rotherham lost both leading scorer Chiedozie Ogbene and Shane Ferguson to injury inside 40 minutes, but were boosted when referee Keith Stroud adjudged Dijksteel to be the last man in stopping Hugill’s run, despite Boro appearing to have more cover.

It took the hosts just three minutes after the restart to make the man advantage count as Odoffin found space to unleash a strike which left goalkeeper Zac Steffen rooted to the spot.

The Millers had won just one of their previous nine matches, but seemed happy to keep what they had and defend their lead, inviting Boro pressure.

Michael Carrick’s side, who have lost four of their past seven, bossed the final half-hour without causing too many problems.

However, there were sighs of relief when Tommy Smith sliced a glorious chance over from the corner of the six-yard box, and then in the final moments, Johansson made a scrambling stop as Lindsay diverted Marc Bola’s cross towards his own net.