Chopra punish wasteful Boro

Middlesbrough took to the streets for a penalty of loss of Stewart Downing and Michael Chopra to a late brace to hand Sunderland a 2-0 Wear-Tees derby victory at the Stadium of Light.

The North East rivals were guilty of spawning goalscoring chances throughout the match, with goalkeepers Craig Gordon and Ross Turnbull both called into action on several occasions.

However, Boro expected to have been handed a golden opportunity to get their first away victory since December 2007, when Black Cats defender Nyron Nosworthy was judged to have clipped the heels of Jeremie Aliadiere.

Downing, who crashed a shot against the wood spot earlier this season against Stoke City, escalated from 12 yards, but he stayed with his head in his hands after tracing his effort over.

Then with nine minutes remaining substitute Chopra latched on to Kieran Richardson through the slot the ball home before they doubled the advantage in injury time from close range to hand his side their first three points at home this term .