Boro slip closer to the drop

Southgate was booed off the Riverside pitch at the end of tense affair where Boro gave everything but once more fell short.

Tuncay's glittering overhead strike combined with results elsewhere in the relegation battlefield had given Middlesbrough some hope. But a failure to finish off a sluggish Villa side led to nervousness, panic and then the inevitable equaliser by John Carew.

Boro's predicament means they must now win their remaining fixture at West Ham - and hope Newcastle lose at Villa and Hull concede a hatful at home to champions Manchester United.

Tuncay flashed a header over the bar before Villa showed some quality with a neat build-up leading to Gabriel Agbonlahor trying to slide the ball under Brad Jones, who saved with his legs.

Julio Arca played in Stewart Downing whose shot was deflected upwards for Middlesbrough's player of the season, with his back to goal, to produce an overhead kick that left Brad Friedel grasping thin air.

But a serious blow soon followed for Boro when Downing was left in agony after Stiliyan Petrov stood on his foot as the winger was in mid-flight. The England international left the pitch on a stretcher to a standing ovation having perhaps played his last game for his home-town club.

The tension started to get to Middlesbrough and they wasted several chances to clear their lines as Villa pressed, though when King sliced a clearance to Carew's feet there still seemed enough bodies around the Norwegian to thwart him.

Panic ensured instead and Carew kept his calm to place an accurate shot through the gaps in the crowded goalmouth and into the net.