Middlesbrough hits jackpot with EPL promotion

LONDON — Middlesbrough struck it rich as it was promoted to the Premier League after a 1-1 draw in its £170 million ($246 million) shoot-out with Brighton and Hove Albion Saturday. Aitor Karanka’s side survived a nervous encounter at the Riverside Stadium to end its seven-year exile from the top-flight and bank the huge cash windfall due to Premier League clubs as a result of the new television contracts that kick in next season. Needing just one point from its last game of the Championship season to guarantee it would finish above third-placed Brighton on goal difference, second-placed Middlesbrough took the lead through Christian Stuani’s first-half strike. Dale Stephens equalized for Brighton after the break, but the midfielder was sent off moments later and Middlesbrough held on to spark wild celebrations on Teesside. Middlesbrough started the day with a chance of lifting the Championship title as well as securing a place among the elite, but had to settle for second after already promoted leader Burnley swept to a 3-0 victory at relegated Charlton Athletic. Player dies on pitch Prosecutors are investigating the sudden death of Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng after he collapsed during a match in the Romanian capital. The 26-year-old Ekeng fell to the ground seven minutes after going on as a substitute in a match between Dinamo and Viitorul Constanta Friday. The match was at 3-3 and being broadcast live when Ekeng collapsed in the 69th minute. Local media said he had a heart attack. Doctors tried to resuscitate Ekeng for an hour at Floreasca Emergency Hospital, where dozens of fans gathered outside. Fans and some officials have criticized what they claimed were delays in treating Ekeng on the pitch and in taking him by ambulance to the nearby hospital. Players and staff were seen crying as events unfolded. Some went with him to the hospital. Ekeng also played for Spanish club Cordoba CF, Swiss club Lausanne, and French club Le Mans. He moved to Dinamo in 2015. Romania’s football federation said Saturday the final of the Romanian Cup will be put back a week to May 17 due to Ekeng’s death. Dinamo plays CFR Cluj in the final. Guardiola clashes with medical staff Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola’s already tense relations with the club’s medical staff have worsened over insinuations by the Spaniard that they take too long to rehabilitate injured players, Bild reported Friday. The claims came after Bayern crashed out of the Champions League semifinals at the hands of Atletico Madrid Wednesday. According to Bild, Guardiola turned on his medical staff, asking how Atletico had managed to get Uruguayan Diego Godin back on the pitch for Wednesday’s game after the key defender had missed the first leg through injury. “At Atletico, Godin quickly came back to fitness. Why can’t you lot manage that? Why do injuries last so long for us?” Guardiola said. Bild said one of the medical staff retorted: “He can’t say that, you don’t have the right to say that! You have all the players at your disposition. All except (Arjen) Robben and (Holger) Badstuber!“ The newspaper reported that witnesses saw France international Frank Ribery intervene “to avoid the worse.” Guardiola, who joins Manchester City next season, has often had run-ins with the club’s medical staff. Noted doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt left the club in April 2015 after almost 40 years after relations with the Spanish coach cooled. — Agencies