Morgan Whittaker has scored two goals in two games after failing to score in his first 25 appearances for Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough reduced the gap on Championship leaders Coventry City to a single point as they beat troubled Sheffield Wednesday at a deserted Hillsborough.
Wednesday fans stayed away in huge numbers in their latest show of displeasure towards the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri and the team remain bottom of the table after a third straight defeat.
In front of a sparse crowd in an eerie atmosphere, Morgan Whittaker scored his second goal in as many games in the sixth minute and that proved to be Boro's winner.
Boro missed a succession of chances to make the game safe and had a big penalty claim turned down, but did enough to record a seventh win from their 11 games and open up a four-point advantage over Millwall in third as their fine start to the campaign continued.
The crowd was visibly well below Sheffield Wednesday's season average of 20,756
With a winding-up petition from HMRC looming over the club, Wednesday fans had promised a boycott of this match in their attempts to force Chansiri to relinquish his ownership of the club and they were true to their word.
Outside Hillsborough, the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters' Trust projected a message onto one of the stands urging the owner to leave the club.
Inside, there were huge swathes of empty seats across three sides of the ground, in sharp contrast to the sold-out away end housing more than 3,600 supporters following the team from Teesside.
It meant that the large bowl of a stadium was largely silent, punctuated only by the noise from the visiting contingent.
Against this backdrop, it is little surprise that Wednesday have now collected just one point from their six home games this season, scoring only once and conceding 15.
Emergency goalkeeper in thick of action
Boro head coach Rob Edwards had talked about preparing his players for a "different atmosphere" and they were switched on from the start as they scored with the game's first meaningful attack.
Having waited 26 games to score his first Boro goal in the win over Ipswich Town on Friday, former Plymouth Argyle man Whittaker wasted no time in doubling his account as he swept Delano Burgzorg's ball beyond Owls goalkeeper Joe Lumley, brought in on an emergency seven-day loan from Bristol City.
Lumley was then lucky not to concede a penalty when he took a heavy touch and brought down Tommy Conway after the forward had stolen in ahead of him - but referee Thomas Kirk did not give it.
But with saves close to half-time to deny Conway and Burgzorg, Lumley just about kept Wednesday in the game.
The Owls debutant made even more saves in the second half, including a brilliant push over from Alan Browne's close-range volley and coming out on top in a one-on-one with substitute Kaly Sene.
Boro were deserved winners, but their goalkeeper Sol Brynn had been called into a a couple of stops early in the second half at the other end as the home side chased an unlikely equaliser.
But while the margin was narrow, these two teams continued the contrasting fortunes of their seasons, with Boro enjoying their best start to a campaign since 1991.
Reaction - 'I understand all the fans'
Sheffield Wednesday head coach Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"Our boys gave everything today from the first to the last and I'm so proud how they did it.
"We are working so hard and we have such togetherness and such strong mentality in this team.
"I'm proud that we can make it so difficult for a team like Middlesbrough but I could feel the disappointment in the dressing room afterwards.
(On the fans' boycott): "We have all tried to play here when it's a full house and it's fantastic.
"I understand all the fans and also the fans who sit at home. I respect everyone, I'm just looking forward to when we can be together again."
Pedersen: 'I understand all the fans'
Middlesbrough head coach Rob Edwards told BBC Radio Tees:
"We got the job done in the end. All that mattered was the three points, not really how we did it.
"We didn't get the second goal, which I think we deserved and that always kept them in it, always kept them believing they were one moment away from something.
"So I was really pleased to keep the clean sheet and the win in the end."
Edwards: Boro 'could have made it a lot easier'
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