Alex Gilbert came to Middlesbrough’s rescue as he scored a 93rd minute to seal a win for Boro at Hull City in their first game of 2025.

Sending Boro up to fifth in the Championship table, the game looked to be heading for a fourth successive Boro draw as they struggled throughout for attacking quality after a raft of changes from Michael Carrick to freshen his side up after a busy festive period. Having struggled throughout much of his Boro career, Gilbert won it for Boro with virtually the last kick in a moment that felt hugely significant for both him and Boro.

Carrick made four changes from the side that drew with Burnley on Sunday. Rav van den Berg was straight back in at the expense of George Edmundson after suspension, while Lukas Engel, Isaiah Jones and Riley McGree were all also back in the side, with Neto Borges, Ben Doak and Delano Burgzorg dropping to the bench.

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The Engel and Jones changes were particularly interesting and gave both Boro players opportunities to stake their claim - Engel as he returns from injury and Jones because of Doak’s incredible form.

The Doak decision in particular was an interesting one from Carrick and surely one made with fatigue in mind. By means of keeping Liverpool happy, Boro have protected Doak throughout his loan spell and after a busy festive period, a rest was probably needed. But with Jones struggling for some time, Boro needed him to step-up because games like these are the kind that Boro have dropped far too many points in this season.

They started aggressively with their press and Jones played a big part in Boro’s big chance of the game. The right winger caught Sean McLaughlin dilly-dallying in his own box and when Jones got the challenge in, Finn Azaz was able to pick up the loose ball. Edged just wide of goal though, he fired over in the fifth minute.

Boro then had a 15-minute spell in which they struggled to get a grip of the game. The home side grew in belief as Boro were a bit rushed with their passing, but they struggled to find much quality. A speculative long-range effort was as close as they came to worrying Tom Glover in the whole of a pretty poor first half.

It was one that at least ended with Boro having a much-improved final 15-20 minutes though. Their best move of the game saw them play through the lines for the first time before Azaz slipped Latte Lath in behind off the last shoulder. The ball through just left him a little wide of the goal though, leaving a difficult angle to beat Ivor Pandur.

On his return to the side, Engel was finding plenty of space on the left. While he did little wrong in a steady first 45, he could have perhaps exploited that more. He did help create Boro’s best chance though as he laid it inside to McGree who, coming inside on his right, hit one well from range which Pandur had to tip over.

As Boro began to look increasingly lively, they ultimately struggled for final-third quality to break down the Hull defence. It said a lot about the first half that both sides’ best effort were long-range strikes.

Into the second half and Boro were for the restart unchanged. Hull made a double change, which included the introduction of former Boro star Ryan Giles. Presumably left out after a small injury because of Hull’s homework on Doak, Ruben Selles took the gamble in the second half - which said a lot of his thoughts on Jones’ first-half threat.

Hull were making their third change before Boro had even sent a sub out to warm up as the second half started in much the same way as the first. Boro were enjoying more of the ball but without doing much with it. It increasingly felt a change was needed - it was just a question of how late Carrick left it.

The answer was the 69th minute as he made a triple sub. Borges, Doak and Burgzorg were all on for the men that replaced them in the starting line-up - and it had an instant impact.

Particularly from the attacking duo, it was a sign of what Boro had lacked in the previous 69 minutes as Doak immediately attacked the right wing before laying the ball inside. It eventually fell to Hayden Hackney on the edge and he was so unlucky to see his first-time effort hit the post and bounce away from goal.

Just a moment later, Doak was at the thick of it again as he this time cut inside to Burgzorg. The Boro sub found himself held up in the box with his back to goal but did well to turn and fashion and snap shot to force a save from Pandur, who was alert again to push away a long-range Azaz effort a minute later.

The momentum of the subs looked to have fizzled out for Boro as the game reached it dying embers. With one last throw of the dice it was fringe man Alex Gilbert who came on with just two minutes of normal time remaining.

A player who has had a tough time at Boro, he’s also come up with some big moments from the bench - and he produced his best yet in the third minute of stoppage time at the MKM Stadium. What looked to be heading to a very disappointing draw suddenly became a massive win, and it was the substitutes combining to do it.

An excellent Burgzorg to the byline down the left resulted in a ball low cutback which Gilbert ran onto and side-footed home from close range. It was virtually the last kick. It felt like a huge moment for both Gilbert, and also Boro overall.

A massive win despite a largely poor attacking display, it moved them up to fifth. With Cardiff City visiting the Riverside on Saturday, it’s a huge win, setting up an opportunity to really cement their top-six credentials early in the new year.