Middlesbrough suffered defeat to rivals Sunderland in the cruellest of fashions as Ryan Giles, on his Riverside return, scored a late own goal to gift the visitors a 3-2 victory.

Sending Sunderland 14 points clear of Boro in the Championship table, Delano Burgzorg and Hayden Hackney goals appeared enough to earn Boro a point until the cruel Giles moment in the 87th minute. Dan Neil and Wilson Isidor scored Sunderland’s first two.

In the end, it was a defeat that left many concerns as far as weaknesses in the Boro squad are concerned, as defensive vulnerabilities came to the fore again. Here’s how the Boro players rated.

Mark Tarvers - 6

Quite unlucky to concede three goals on his debut, In general, he looked assured throughout and made two really good saves in the game. Nothing he could do with any of the goals.

Luke Ayling - 4

A really poor evening for Ayling after a positive start. The moment Sunderland got a foothold in the game they targeted him and Sunderland’s marquee January signing Enzo Le Fee exposed him badly. He played a hand in two of Sunderland’s goals.

Rav van den Berg - 5

Wasn’t particularly culpable for any of the goals but struggled to look as classy as he can in a chaotic and unorganised Boro defence.

George Edmundson - 4

A poor evening for Edmundson on his first start since returning this month. From the off, his balls out of defence were sloppy and put team-mates under pressure, offering Sunderland a route back into the game. He was unlucky with Sunderland’s first goal that deflected off him, but his attempt to play an offside trap for the second was really poor.

Ryan Giles - 5

A cruel end to Giles’ Riverside return, he might need managing carefully after this after what has been a really tough 18 months for him. There’s not much he can do with it, but that will be scant consolation. In general, he attacked well and put a couple of dangerous crosses into the box.

Aidan Morris - 4

Possibly lucky to still be on the pitch after a heavy tackle while already on a yellow. He was also partly culpable for two Sunderland goals. The first he wasn’t helped by Ayling’s sloppy touch into his path, the second was just an overly casual pass that gifted Sunderland possession to set them off on an attack to win the game. His aggression did lead to Boro’s equaliser, but it was in vain thanks to his own error.

Hayden Hackney - 6

Scored a wonderful goal that looked to have earned Boro a point, having also put a lovely ball through for Burgzorg to open the scoring. One or two astray passes, but in general positive and intent to make an impact.

Morgan Whittaker - 5

Started brightly and had a couple of nice early touches. But he faded in the game and offered very little from a defensive point of view while struggling to get into the game in important areas.

Finn Azaz - 5

With struggling for much control in the game after their opening goal, this was another game that just seemed to pass Azaz by. It was no real surprise when he was first to be withdrawn on the hour mark.

Delano Burgzorg - 5

Scored an excellent opener, showing great composure when put through on goal. But he was terribly weak in a challenge on the edge of Boro’s box that allowed for Dan Neil to get a shot that led to their equaliser.

Marcus Forss - 5

Worked hard to win the ball back for Boro’s opening goal, but missed a couple of really good opportunities to give Boro a comfortable lead. One early header just needed to go away from the keeper, while the less said about his effort after Hackney’s drive the better.

Substitutions

Samuel Iling-Junior (for Azaz, 60’) - 5 - Likely with little preparation after arriving on Sunday, the Aston Villa loanee struggled to make an impact from the bench as little he tried came off.

Tommy Conway (for Forss, 69’) - 5 - Struggled to get into this one, despite working hard to try. Welcome return to fitness for Boro at an important time.