Boro & Saints tie in the balance after first-leg stalemate

Middlesbrough and Southampton played out a goalless draw to leave their Championship play-off semi-final finely poised at the midway point.

Boro dominated the majority of the first leg at the Riverside Stadium, dominated in the build-up by the 'SpyGate 2' allegations but couldn't find the breakthrough.

The Saints had some big opportunities late on, but couldn't find a goal either. Just like the other tie between Millwall and Hull, we head into the second leg as we were.

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Pre-match overtaken by 'Spygate 2' allegations

Kim Hellberg was not pulling any punches in his pre-match interview, after Southampton were charged with a breach of EFL regulations after a member of staff was alleged to have spied on Boro's training ahead of their play-off tie.

• Southampton charged by EFL after Middlesbrough spying allegation

"Possibly?!" the Boro boss said to Sky Sports before kick-off when the allegations were put to him.

"It's not affected our build up. We have done what we should have done before this type of game. We've watched every Southampton game there is, trying to find solutions to beat them - how they press, how they build up. Putting every hour towards getting the advantage to win, in the right way.

"We're motivated. We're going to do everything we can to win the game. It's a new game. I believe in my players. We're going to try to win the game fair."

Boro dominate first half but can't break through

And to be fair to Hellberg, the first half was pretty much a 45 minutes that summed Boro up. Intense, energetic, creative, but just no end product.

Daniel Peretz's goal was peppered at times, but they couldn't find a way through. Seventeen shots on goal, just four on target. An xG of 1.39 to Southampton's zero.

The best chances fell to Tommy Conway, who had two huge ones in a matter of moments. The first was blocked on the line by James Bree, the other rattled the far post as he tried to bend it into the far corner.

"I can't remember a game as one-sided as this between two sides at the top end of the table," Jobi McAnuff said on Sky Sports at half-time. "They'll be so disappointed they didn't score."

Saints spurn late chances to win

It felt like a big opportunity gone for Boro, as the Saints improved after the break, going close themselves twice late on.

First, Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed onto the woodwork from a Ryan Manning free-kick, and then substitute Samuel Edozie raced through on the counter-attack, but fired just wide of Sol Brynn's goal.

From being dominated for most of the clash, the Saints could easily have ended up taking a lead into the second leg.