By Gabriel Mills
In a Championship play-off semi-final second leg overshadowed by controversy following alleged spying of a training session, an extra-time strike was the difference between Southampton and Middlesbrough.
Southampton had managed to hold off Boro in a 0-0 draw at the Riverside on Saturday, but it took the visitors just five minutes to take the lead on the South Coast.
Riley McGree’s clever finish was eventually cancelled out in first-half added time when Ross Stewart rose highest to head home for Tonda Eckert’s men.
Both teams then had penalty appeals waved away by Andy Madley, who also had to de-escalate an altercation between Luke Ayling, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and both managers.
As proceedings headed to extra time and subsequently looked to be going all the way to a penalty shootout, Shea Charles’ 116th-minute cross found the back of the net to send the home fans into a frenzy.
Eckert impressed by comeback
Saints head coach Eckert ensured his players were completely focused on the match despite external events.
“It’s not easy when you come into a second leg – there is obviously a lot of emotions and a very crucial game and you go down early on,” the German admitted during the post-match press conference.
“It’s never easy to then find your way back into the game and I think the performance of the players speaks for itself.”
However, a reporter then asked: “Are you a cheat?” – a question which resulted in the conference ending after just 40 seconds.
It remains to be seen whether action will be taken with regard to the alleged spying and if so, how serious the impact would be on Southampton going forward.
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Hellberg addresses ‘disgraceful’ spying
After congratulating and giving credit to the Saints players and fans in his own press conference, acknowledging “they haven’t been part of this [spygate]”, Boro boss Kim Hellberg offered a hard-hitting and emotional view on the situation.
And with many factors lying outside his hands, Hellberg explained the huge importance of the tactical side of the game, an aspect which he feels was taken away following spying.
“I worked 15 years as a coach in terms of trying to get to the Premier League – that’s my dream for 15 years,” he said.
“There are teams, to be fair, that had bigger squads than us, teams that had more money to spend… what you have as a coach and as a group is the tactical element of the game where you can beat the opponent.”
The Swedish coach mentioned a quote by Millwall’s Alex McNeil on Tuesday night.
“I naturally feel as if I’ve let people down [when we haven’t won],” McNeil had said after his side’s play-off loss to Hull City.
Hellberg agreed with that sentiment, saying: “That’s often the feeling a coach goes home with because you think that what I could control was the tactical aspect of the game.”
After all the sacrifices of preparing for the tie and putting “every second away from your family to watch every Southampton game you can”, the Boro boss struggled to accept the alleged actions of the so-called Southampton spy.
“When someone decides, ‘no we’re not going to watch every game, we send someone instead to film the session and see everything and hope they don’t get caught’… it breaks my heart.”
The play-off final will take place on May 23 at Wembley Stadium with Southampton hoping to replicate their Wembley win of 2023 against Leeds United.
Action taken by the EFL in regard to the alleged spying may include banning Southampton from that match as punishment, though.
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Geoffrey H. Latayan 
Simon Wilkes