FOR Middlesbrough, a glimmer of hope. For Sunderland, another step towards the abyss. For the rest of us, a blessed relief that both clubs’ seasons are another game closer to the end.

The desperation derby? The deadbeat derby? The Tees-Wear toil? Whatever you wanted to call it, it wasn’t very good. In truth, it was never going to be any different.

Like two bald men fighting over a comb, Middlesbrough and Sunderland slugged it out to delay what is surely still the inevitable.

Sunderland’s relegation will be confirmed on Saturday if they lose to Bournemouth and Hull get at least a point at Southampton, and while Boro are in a more positive position thanks to their first win under the stewardship of Steve Agnew, it would still take a remarkable turn of events for them to survive.

Six points adrift of safety, and with games against Manchester City, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool to come, the Teessiders remain all-but-certain to find themselves in the Championship next season. That their nine months in the top-flight have contained a double over Sunderland will provide little satisfaction.

They merited last night’s success, which came courtesy of Marten de Roon’s ninth-minute winner, because of their attacking efforts in the first half, when they created the best two chances of the game, and their defensive performance in the second, when they successfully repelled Sunderland’s limited attacking threat.

The Northern Echo:

Middlesbrough's Marten de Roon scores his side's first goal of the game. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

They were mediocre, and against a team as bereft of quality as the Black Cats, that was enough. Sunderland were wretched, and the abuse directed at David Moyes by the travelling contingent heightened the sense of a club in crisis. It will not be an easy route back to the top-flight for either of last night’s opponents, but it is at Sunderland where the problems are most acute.

Brad Guzan was barely forced to make a save, and the lack of fight in the visiting ranks was remarkable given the position in which the Black Cats find themselves. Sunderland will not even be relegated with a whimper – instead, the prevailing mood appears to be one of complete indifference.

There is still a degree of spirit within the Middlesbrough team, and when the hosts had to dig deep in the second half, they pulled together effectively. That will almost certainly be insufficient to keep them in the top-flight, but the embarrassment of Saturday’s humiliation at Bournemouth was at least partially addressed.

Boro finished the night with the spurious honour of being the region’s top dogs, but rarely can a North-East derby have been played amid a backdrop of such staggering underachievement. Sunderland’s record of one win in their previous 15 league games prior to kick-off was embarrassing, yet it was still superior to Middlesbrough’s tally of no wins from 16. Less a hotbed of football; more the sickbed of the national game.

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Boro goalkeeper Brad Guzan vaults over Sunderland's Victor Anichebe to save a shot. Pictyure: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Boro’s collapse has undone the good work of last season’s promotion, Sunderland’s has come after years of scrambling to avoid the drop. They might have approached their current crisis from different directions, but the end result is likely to be the same. Next season, this will be a Championship fixture.

At least Boro gave their fans something to shout about, and engendered a degree of hope. True, their dominance owed much to the chronic deficiencies of a Sunderland side that were laughably inept at times, but after a severe regression last weekend, at least there were glimpses of a team capable of displaying a degree of invention and adventure.

Both qualities were on display as they claimed the lead in the ninth minute, with de Roon throwing off his midfield shackles to gallop beyond Alvaro Negredo and take control of a superb floated through ball from Adam Clayton.

The less said about Sunderland’s diabolical defending the better, with Billy Jones and John O’Shea standing yards apart as de Roon ghosted between them, but there was still much to admire in the quality of the Dutchman’s finish as he chested the ball down before slotting it past Jordan Pickford. It was de Roon’s fourth league goal of the season, and it is a shame he has not managed to force himself into the opposition’s penalty area on a more regular basis this term.

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Sunderland's Jermain Defoe applauds the fans after the final whistle. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

The same could be said of Stewart Downing, and the winger, who spent some of the early months of his career on loan at Sunderland, came close to doubling Boro’s lead midway through the opening period.

He showed commendable tenacity to force his way past Jones and Jason Denayer, but after breaking into the area, his low shot was saved by Pickford’s legs.

Calum Chambers flashed a shot narrowly wide of the post moments later, and while Boro’s attacking was hardly free-flowing, they were at least committing men forward to ensure Negredo was not isolated.

Sunderland’s performance in the opening half-hour was abysmal, leading to the first chorus of “We want Moysie out” from the 3,000-or-so travelling fans. This is a side careering towards the drop, and their efforts were perhaps best encapsulated by the sight of O’Shea charging out of defence on the stroke of half-time, only to pass the ball straight into touch.

The one exception to the visitors’ general malaise was Didier Ndong, who at least tried to add a degree of energy and drive to his side’s play. His 34th-minute strike forced Guzan into his only intervention before the interval, and while Jones headed Victor Anichebe’s cross over the bar from the next passage of play, Sunderland’s lack of goalscoring threat was startling, but hardly unexpected given they had failed to score in seven of their last eight games prior to kick-off.

The Northern Echo:

Boro players line up for a tribute to the late Ugo Ehiogu at the Riverside Stadium. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Wahbi Khazri curled in a free-kick that Guzan saved at the start of the second half, but while there was an increase in urgency in the visiting ranks after the interval, the continued lack of quality was glaringly apparent. Even Jermain Defoe was well below his best, fluffing a decent chance shortly before the hour mark when he turned away from goal rather than firing in a first-time shot from inside the area.

The lack of sparkle was not confined to those in a Sunderland shirt though, and whether it was through nervousness, fatigue or sheer disbelief at having a lead to hold on to, Boro’s earlier dominance disappeared for much of the second half.

Suddenly, the hosts were camped on the edge of their own penalty area, with Clayton finding himself playing as an auxiliary centre-half and Adam Forshaw not able to get much further up the field.

It could have been a nervous finale, but Sunderland’s limitations meant Boro were never under any real pressure. Downing flashed a late shot wide of the target, but there was never any real risk of a second goal being required.