MIDDLESBROUGH 0 NORWICH CITY 2

MIDDLESBROUGH’S hopes of a place in the Premier League disappeared as they crashed to a deserved defeat to Norwich City at Wembley.

The Teessiders were unable to recover from the concession of two goals in the opening 15 minutes and eventually slumped to a 2-0 defeat that see them consigned to another season in the Championship.

Cameron Jerome capitalised from a Daniel Ayala error to fire Norwich into a 12th-minute lead, and the game was as good as up when Nathan Redmond added a second goal three minutes later.

Boro briefly threatened to rally in the second half, but while Jelle Vossen had struck the crossbar when the scores were still goalless, Aitor Karanka’s side produced a surprisingly limp display in their biggest game of the season.

When Boro beat Norwich at Carrow Road last month, they exploded out of the traps and effectively put the game to bed in the first ten minutes. This time around, it was the Canaries dominating the opening stages and the Teessiders capitulating dramatically.

Norwich served notice of their threat as early as the ninth minute, with Steven Whittaker crossing from the right and Bradley Johnson cracking a 20-yard drive off the crossbar after a weak defensive header fell into his path.

To their credit, Boro’s response was immediate, with George Friend playing the ball forward for Vossen to drill an even better effort of his own against the frame of the goal. Unfortunately, that was to be as good as it got from a Teesside perspective before the break.

Two minutes later and Boro were behind, with Jerome profiting from some dreadful defending from the normally reliable Ayala.

Receiving the ball from Dean Whitehead, Ayala dawdled as he tried to shuffle the ball infield. Jerome robbed him of possession, although he appeared to sweep the centre-half’s legs away in the process, and the striker calmly slotted the ball past Dimi Konstantopoulos from close range.

Worse was to follow three minutes later, as a rampant Norwich doubled their lead. Whittaker found Redmond in an acre of space close to the edge of the area, and the England Under-21 international skipped around Ben Gibson before drilling a fierce low strike into the far corner of the net.

Boro were reeling, and while they gradually steadied the ship in the remainder of the first half, they remained second best by a considerable distance.

Neither Grant Leadbitter nor Adam Clayton were able to adequately close down an inventive Norwich midfield, and in attack, Patrick Bamford did not appear to be fit as he barely made an impact on the opposition defence.

With Lee Tomlin also struggling to retain possession, Boro’s only half-chance before the interval saw Vossen glance a header well wide.

Karanka opted for a half-time change, replacing Whitehead with Emilio Nsue, and Boro threatened within five minutes of the restart as Ayala headed Leadbitter’s corner over the top.

The Teessiders enjoyed their best spell of the game at the start of the second period, with Albert Adomah proving especially threatening down the right, and they finally recorded their first effort on target in the 59th minute as Bamford drilled in a low effort that was saved by John Ruddy.

Kike was introduced in the 68th minute, but despite Bamford’s struggles, it was Vossen who made way rather than the Chelsea loanee.

Norwich went close to claiming a third goal when Russell Martin headed over from a corner, and while Boro threatened when Ayala’s goalbound header was blocked by Lewis Grabban with eight minutes left, there was to be no thrilling finale.

Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Konstantopoulos; Whitehead (Nsue 46), Ayala, Gibson, Friend; Leadbitter, Clayton; Adomah, Vossen (Kike 68), Tomlin; Bamford.

Subs (not used): Ripley (gk), Amorebieta, Woodgate, Forshaw, Reach.

Norwich (4-2-3-1): Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin, Bassong, Olsson; Tettey, Howson; Redmond (O’Neil 87), Hoolahan (Dorrans 74), Johnson; Jerome (Grabban 74).

Subs (not used): Rudd (gk), E Bennett, R Bennett, Hooper.