Matt Targett’s brace and David Strelec’s header saw Middlesbrough boost their promotion ambitions with a 3-1 victory at Birmingham City.
Targett fired Boro into a 13th-minute lead at St Andrew’s from Aidan Morris’ long ball, before he got his second goal just 13 minutes later after he pounced on a side-pass from Hayden Hackney.
Marvin Ducksh pulled a goal back for Birmingham from Jay Stansfield’s 48th-minute cutback pass but the Blues couldn’t complete their comeback, as Strelec nodded in Middlesbrough’s third goal on the hour mark to move the visitors four points clear of Millwall in second.
Birmingham meanwhile slipped to 12th on goal difference behind Preston.
Having seen third-placed Millwall move to within one point of them following the Lions’ 2-0 win at Preston on Saturday, Middlesbrough found themselves under pressure from a third-minute pass towards Tommy Doyle but the Wolves loanee’s shot was blocked by Sol Brynn.
Demarai Gray then went close for Birmingham in the tenth minute from Stansfield’s pass but his shot was blocked as the hosts continued to apply early pressure whilst Boro struggled to settle defensively.
Birmingham’s high-pressing play soon proved their undoing as Morris played a 13th-minute long ball forward, which found Targett unmarked to cut in past Bright Osayi-Samuel and he swept his low shot past James Beadle to break the deadlock.
Boro subsequently settled and controlled the first half as Hackney and Morris fired wide.
Targett eventually doubled Boro’s lead in the 26th minute as a move up the right was scrappily knocked about Birmingham’s defence until fell to the feet of Hackney, and the midfielder opted to play a pass across for Targett to smash in for the left-back’s first brace in senior football.
Middlesbrough continued to control the game as Birmingham failed to produce much response before half time.
Birmingham however begun the second half like they did the first half on the front foot and this time got rewarded in the 48th minute, as Osayi-Samuel’s long pass up the right was cut back by Stansfield for Ducksh to smash in past Brynn to reduce their deficit.
Ducksh then saw a 54th-minute shot saved by Brynn as Birmingham chased down an equaliser.
Boro however wrapped up victory on the hour mark after a corner-kick was cleared to the edge of the box and passed around, until Ayling whipped in a cross which Strelec nodded into the top-left corner to restore the visitors’ two-goal lead.
Kim Hellberg’s Boro ultimately controlled the game to the final whistle to keep their promotion bid firmly on track, whilst Birmingham were left eight points adrift of Wrexham who occupy the last play-off spot in sixth position.
What’s Next?
Birmingham visit lowly Charlton on Saturday 7 March in a 3pm GMT kick-off at The Valley.
Middlesbrough head to QPR in back-to-back away trips as the pair meet at Loftus Road on Sunday 8 March at 4:30pm.
Teams
Birmingham: James Beadle, Bright Osayi-Samuel (Osman 72′), Christoph Klarer, Jonathan Panzo (Laird 84′), Kai Wagner, Tomoki Iwata, Tommy Doyle, Patrick Roberts (Vicente 64′), Marvin Ducksh, Demarai Gray (Seung-Ho 72′), Jay Stansfield (Priske 65′)
Substitutes: Ryan Allsop, Kanya Fujimoto, Kyogo Furuhashi, Ethan Laird, Phil Neumann, Ibrahim Osman, Paik, Seung-Ho, August Priske, Carlos Vicente
Middlesbrough: Sol Brynn, Callum Brittain, Luke Ayling, Dael Fry, Adilson Malanda, Matt Targett, Aidan Morris, Hayden Hackney (Gilbert 91′), Riley McGree (Browne 74′), David Strelec (Whittaker 61′), Tommy Conway (Sarmiento 75′)
Substitutes: Alan Browne, George Edmundson, Alex Gilbert, Sontje Hansen, Finlay Munroe, Jeremy Sarmiento, Kaly Sene, Morgan Whittaker, Joe Wildsmith
Referee – Thomas Kirk
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