Emmanuel Latte Lath scored 18 goals for Middlesbrough last season
Middlesbrough made a winning start to their Championship season as they saw off Swansea City.
Emmanuel Latte Lath's first-half penalty gave the dominant hosts a deserved lead after Isaiah Jones was tripped by Azeem Abdulai.
Boro should have added to their advantage either side of the break as Jones saw a shot deflected over and Latte Lath headed wide from a corner.
Swansea had plenty of possession but did precious little with it until a late flurry of chances which ultimately came to nothing.
Middlesbrough have been tipped as promotion contenders this season, having narrowly missed out on the play-offs last time.
Their failure to finish inside the top six was partly due to a slow start which yielded only two points from their first seven matches, but they already have three points one game into this campaign after winning their opening fixture for the first time in 10 years.
Wasteful finishing aside, this was a performance that underlined why Michael Carrick’s side will be expected to challenge towards the top of the table again.
For Swansea, by contrast, expectations are significantly lower following a testing summer during which there were far more player departures than arrivals.
Boro were quick to take control of this encounter and, even when their opponents briefly threatened, the home side were still able to create chances.
Goalkeeper Seny Dieng caught an eighth-minute Swansea corner and immediately launched a long ball to an unmarked Jones, who spotted Swans debutant keeper Lawrence Vigouroux rush off his line but sent a looping long-range shot wide.
Jones played a key role in Boro's opening goal midway through the first half, cutting inside from the right wing and weaving past Josh Tymon before being tripped by Abdulai, prompting referee Sam Allison to point to the spot.
Latte Lath struck his penalty confidently, powering the ball past Vigouroux and brushing the inside of the post on its way in.
Although Swansea had more possession, they did not pose much danger so head coach Luke Williams replaced Abdulai with direct-running Brazilian winger Ronald at half-time.
His introduction lifted the Swans' tempo, but they were fortunate not to fall further behind when Latte Lath misdirected his close-range free header from a corner.
As long as Boro failed to convert their chances, Swansea still had hope, and new signing Eom Ji-sung came close to a debut goal as he curled a 20-yard free-kick just past the post.
The visitors had a number of set-pieces in the opposition half but did not trouble Dieng, whereas Vigouroux was busy at the other end and had to make a smart save to deny Finn Azaz.
Swansea finally created some proper chances in injury time but Liam Cullen's blocked close-range shot was too little too late for Williams’ men.
Post-match reaction
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick told BBC Radio Tees:
“It was definitely hard-earned. We knew going into the game what kind of game it was going to be potentially, the way they play, knowing what we faced at the end of last season.
“They test you, they work you, they like possession and we were aware of that and I think we had the tools and the players and the shape to balance that off.
“I thought we looked dangerous throughout the game.
“There’s a good spirit and fire about the group. They epitomised that today with a bit of quality on top.”
Swansea head coach Luke Williams told BBC Radio Wales:
“We started the game really poorly. I’m so upset with how we started. It’s a tough place to play – the crowd were loud, it’s a really good squad and the manager’s been here a while, he’s brilliant.
“But we have to start games better than that because it was over before we had a chance to get a foothold in it.
“It was all self-inflicted because, as good as the opposition are, I don’t think they did much to carve us open. It was our errors that allowed them to start attacks. We were sloppy.
“It [the penalty] is a mistake that cost us. We’re well beaten anyway because of the chances they created throughout the game but of course that changes the flow drastically.”
