Shea Charles was Southampton’s hero as they reached the Championship play-off final with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at home to Middlesbrough on Tuesday.
The teams were all square deep into the second half of extra-time when Charles’ 116th-minute curling cross from the right crept through a crowd of defenders and deflected in off the inside of the post.
Southampton, relegated from the Premier League last season, will now face Hull – 2-0 winners over Millwall on Monday – for what appears to be the chance to join Coventry and Ipswich in English football’s lucrative top-flight next season.
The tie, however, has been overshadowed by allegations Southampton, now on a 20-game unbeaten run in the Championship, spied on a Middlesbrough training session ahead of Saturday’s goalless first leg at the Riverside Stadium.
The English Football League charged Southampton after receiving a complaint from Middlesbrough “relating to alleged unauthorised filming on private property” and it remains to be seen what action, if any, officials will take against the club.
But should Tuesday’s result stand, Southampton will be through to their second Wembley appearance of the campaign, following an FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City last month.
Riley McGree put Boro ahead in just the fifth minute at St Mary’s to the delight of travelling fans who had made the long journey from the northeast to the south coast.
But Southampton equalised in first-half stoppage-time through Ross Stewart.
Boro, who finished fifth in the regular season to Southampton’s fourth, appeared to put the ongoing row behind them Tuesday by taking just five minutes to open the scoring.
Callum Brittain’s excellent centre found McGree, who shot low and well beyond Saints goalkeeper Daniel Peretz.
Tempers frayed on both sides, with Boro defender Luke Ayling reportedly accusing Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis of using “discriminatory language”.
And Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg and Southampton counterpart Tonda Eckert had to be physically separated as referee Andy Madley spoke to them on the touchline towards the end of the first half.
Southampton then equalised in stoppage-time when Ryan Manning’s shot was parried into the air by Boro keeper Sol Brynn and Stewart nodded in the rebound.
In the second half, the hobbling Leo Scienza somehow drove into the box and went down under pressure from Ayling, but Southampton’s appeals for a penalty were rejected by Madley.
Brynn kept Boro in the match in added-on time when he blocked a shot from Saints substitute Cyle Larin before Charles had the last word.
