Middlesbrough moved to the top of the Championship for the first time since mid-October as they delivered an excellent performance to beat 10-man Sheffield United.

First-half goals from Tommy Conway and Riley McGree made it six league wins in a row, their best run since October 2023, as they opened up a two-point gap over previous leaders Coventry City, taking full advantage of the Sky Blues' goalless draw with Oxford United on Saturday.

And this result sets things up perfectly for a meeting between the top two at the CBS Arena next Monday.

Patrick Bamford halved the deficit on 73 minutes for the Blades but their hopes were dashed as substitute Joe Rothwell was sent off on his debut for a wild lunge on Alan Browne.

This ended a mini revival of seven points from their past three games and was a first home defeat since 1 November for Chris Wilder's side, who remain 16th and eight points outside the play-off spots, but still closer to the bottom three.

When Boro lost at home to Coventry on 25 November, they were 10 points behind the Sky Blues with Kim Hellberg waiting in the wings to replace Rob Edwards after his acrimonious departure to Wolves.

But while Frank Lampard's side have stuttered in the months since that game, Boro have been flying.

Their last defeat by Derby County on New Year's Day left them nine adrift of Coventry, but since then they have six straight wins, scoring 15 goals.

And perhaps most tellingly for their promotion rivals, they have won games in different ways but with confidence growing with each consecutive triumph.

Here they needed goalkeeper Sol Brynn to make good saves from Gustavo Hamer and Andre Brooks in the opening quarter of an hour.

But even then, Boro's football was still good enough to create plenty of chances going forward themselves, with McGree and Morgan Whittaker passing up good opportunities to score.

The pair played a part in a fine team goal with Australian McGree slipping a ball into the path of Conway, who confidently shot across Michael Cooper as the Scotland forward made it four goals in his last four games.

There could have been a second as their fluidity caused the home side a host of problems but McGree and Hayden Hackney were narrowly off target.

The all-important second did arrive though on the stroke of half-time, with captain Hackney driving forward from midfield. His deflected shot struck the base of the post and bounced up perfectly for McGree, who was following in, to head the rebound into an empty net and create a cushion that they would not give up.

The Blades had been unbeaten in eight league games before this at Bramall Lane and the acquisitions of Rothwell, Kalvin Phillips and Leo Hjelde on deadline day were not those of a side happy to just get through the final third of the season.

Their wretched start of five straight losses under Ruben Selles has left them playing catch up from August and 15th is the highest position they have been at any stage, showing how hamstrung they have been by those early months.

But they still have plenty of quality and that was evident in some of the moments they produced, with Bamford hitting the side-netting with a volley in the first half after a brilliant pass from Hamer.

And it was that pair's combination that brought the goal as Hamer's superb pass was matched by Bamford's clinical finish for his eighth goal in 15 games.

But his old Leeds United team-mate Rothwell blotted his copybook, having come on as a half-time substitute for his debut following his move from Rangers, taking out Browne close to the touchline - the third time in six games that Wilder's side have had at least one player sent off.

Last season's play-off finalists have now lost 16 league games this term and a top-six spot looks unlikely with 15 matches to go.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder said:

"I've spoken to the players and told them there's a third of the season to go and Middlesbrough are the best team we've played by a long way.

"It's deserved that they go to the top of the division as I thought it was a statement win for them.

"We just needed a little bit more from our players. We were six-and-a-half and sevens and when you're playing a team at the top of the league with the momentum they've got and the results they've had, you've got to be right up there, seven-and-a-halves and eights.

"I don't think we really got to those heights even though to the neutral the game could have swung either way."

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg said:

"The whole game was an unbelievable game of football. Two teams going at each other, two teams trying to be offensive, everything I love about football.

"After the first 10 minutes, our players were unbelievably balanced in taking the ball forward at the first opportunity, finding combinations, creating a lot of chances and we could have scored even more.

"Against such a good team, the first half was brilliant. That performance here underlines how impressive it was from the players.

"Of course, it's a big night. A very tough opponent away from home so those type of results to win six in a row in very different ways is impressive from the group."