Middlesbrough 1
Tuncay 32
Derby 0
Middlesbrough 1 Derby 0 March 22 2008
Tuncay Sanli fired home his sixth Premier League goal of the season as Middlesbrough beat a dismal Derby side 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium.
The Turkish striker broke the deadlock on 32 minutes when he picked up Stewart Downing's pass from the left, cut across two Rams defenders and hit a low drive past Roy Carroll from just inside the box.
Three minutes later County were fortunate not to concede a penalty after Dean Leacock tangled with Gary O'Neil in the box.
Jeremie Aliadiere had a fine chance seconds after the restart but his shot on the turn was parried by Carroll.
George Boateng let fly from long-range and was denied by a superb diving save from the Northern Ireland international.
Aliadiere headed terribly wide on 80 minutes and Boro were almost made to pay when Derby striker Robert Earnshaw somehow sent a point-blank header wide five minutes from time.