Hull City 2-2 Middlesbrough: Finn Azaz earns Michael Carrick's side a point but draw dents both teams' Championship play-off hopes

This was a terrific game between two teams who went hammer and tongs to share four goals. The point apiece they gained as reward? Pretty useless.

While both Hull and Middlesbrough remain in the hunt for the final play-off place, this draw was the result neither wanted.

It leaves them locked together on 62 points in ninth and tenth, some six points adrift of Norwich in sixth.

You wouldn't bet on either extending their season from here, though Hull do have a game in hand on Boro and Norwich, if not Coventry and Preston inbetween.

After the in-form Emmanuel Latte Lath fired Boro into an early lead, Hull came back strongly thanks to goals by Jaden Philogene and Jean Michael Seri.

But Finn Azaz rounded off a Boro counter to snatch them a share of the spoils with 19 minutes to play.

It was a fair reflection, but with just a handful of games to play, one of them really had to seize the initiative here. It ended with both disappointed.

'It was a good game of football. I'm a little bit disappointed we didn't nick a winner, we did everything we could to win it. The players were fantastic all the way through,' Boro manager Michael Carrick said. 

'It was in the nature of both teams because they have a lot of talent and positive players on the pitch. Both teams were tested but they showed quality.

'Of course we're still in the battle. We have got to win the next games, nothing has changed since the last game. Norwich dropped two points, we have dropped two points.'

His Hull counterpart Liam Rosenior said: 'It's the same story. 99.5 per cent of the stuff we do, I'm really proud of but we just don't take advantage and then we shoot ourselves in the foot.

'We were in their box but we don't shoot and within eight seconds they score because we don't foul. I think that moment encapsulates our season. That could end up costing us something that was so attainable for this club.

'But if we consistently play at that level for the next five games, it will be close. It will swing again but we have to make sure it swings in our favour.'

It was Boro who came into the contest as the form team and they made the perfect start after just four minutes.

Matt Clarke played the ball out of defence, before Lukas Engel lofted a pass over the top of Hull's defence, where the speed of Latte Lath carried him clear.

The angle was exceedingly tight but the Ivorian is in hot form and that posed no difficulty as he rolled his shot between Ryan Allsop's legs and home for his sixth in eight games.

Briefly, it looked as if Hull might unravel, with Sam Greenwood allowed space to fire off a shot that was deflected out.

But once Hull, whose damaging six-game winless run finally ended at Cardiff on Saturday, hit their stride, they were clearly the superior first-half side.

Some slick interplay around Boro's box led to Abdulkadir Omur curling a shot just a whisker wide of Seny Dieng's far post.

It's fair to say there were still many inside the MKM Stadium who wish for Rosenior's team to adopt a more direct approach rather than continual circulation of the ball.

But the approach works in grinding down opponents and dragging defenders out of position, if patience is afforded. Soon the rewards came for Hull.

First, it required an athletic one-handed Dieng save to deny Jacob Greaves' header after Seri crossed invitingly from the right flank.

Hull concerted pressure paid off on 29 minutes when Philogene whipped in a cross intended for either Ozan Tufan or Fabio Carvalho in the middle.

Instead, it bent all the way through, deceiving Dieng to find the far corner. The stadium announcer credited a faint Tufan touch, leaving the decision to the Championship's dubious goals panel.

Seizing the initiative, Hull continued to pile forward. Another Omur attempt had to be headed away by Luke Ayling right in front of his own line.

But as half-time and respite beckoned, Middlesbrough shot themselves in the foot as they gifted Seri a goal.

Dieng played the ball out to Lewis O'Brien and he was immediately hassled by the Ivorian midfielder who pinched the ball, shifted it to the left and then blasted emphatically into the top corner.

It was a hugely frustrating way for Boro to concede but Hull had certainly earned their lead.

They pushed to try and put the contest to bed after the break with Seri's effort blocked by Boro skipper Jonny Howson before Regan Slater drove a fierce low shot across goal.

At the other end, Engel's goalbound effort prompted similar bodily sacrifice by Greaves.

Hull's Philogene attempted the spectacular overhead kick but lost his bearings to send it back from whence it came.

And just a minute later, Boro grabbed their equaliser through Azaz's tidy dinked finish over Allsop after playing a neat one-two with Isaiah Jones down the right.

At this point, it was anyone's guess who'd summon the reserves of energy to win it.

Hull came close through Omur with 15 to play, the Turkish winger played through only for Dieng to stand tall and block.

In stoppage time, Latte Lath flung himself at a free-kick but couldn't make the telling touch as play-off hopes faded all round.