Middlesbrough swept to a comfortable victory to keep alive their European hopes after initially making hard work of beating West Brom.

Steve McClaren's side dominated against their relegation-destined opponents but it was not until 14 minutes from time that they added to Malcolm Christie's first-half strike.

Jonathan Greening and substitute Szilard Nemeth finished off Albion, who could only take comfort from the superb support from their large contingent of travelling fans.

Seldom will Middlesbrough have easier games in the Premiership. Inspired by Christie's quick feet and Juninho's brilliant brain and anchored by Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu, they were rarely threatened and will be wondering how they failed to score six.

West Brom, for whom relegation is such a certainty that even Einstein would have trouble proving a mathematical case for survival, this was another game for manager Gary Megson to watch in anguish from the technical area.

There was not just one Brazilian for Albion to contend with - Doriva, a member of the 1998 Brazil World Cup squad, made a tidy debut in holding role in central midfield.

Christie was influential from the first whistle as Middlesbrough bristled with menace. The former Derby striker cut the ball back for the unmarked Joseph-Desire Job and a goal looked on the cards but Russell Hoult did well to parry his fiercely-hit strike.

Jason Koumas tried to stem the flow of early one-way traffic by flashing a shot wide then Jason Roberts nearly surprised Mark Schwarzer at his near-post with a snap-shot. From the corner Danny Dichio won a flick-on only to see Larus Sigurdsson scoop over the crossbar from six yards.

Juninho had a shot blocked and from the rebound Christie put a chance on a plate for Greening but he sliced wide.

Christie was the master provider again, this time setting up Geremi but again the chance went begging as the Cameroonian dragged his left-footed shot off-target.

Gareth Southgate was next to miss with a bullet header before in the 36th minute Christie took matters into his own hands to finally end West Brom's resistance.

The former Derby striker picked up a pass from Job on the left of the box, cut inside one challenge and twisted past another before - with a pass to Geremi looking the most likely option - drilling a low shot inside the near-post to leave Hoult wrong-footed.

A moment of near-genius followed from Juninho when he leapt acrobatically to meet Geremi's up and under and thumped an overhead kick against the angle of crossbar and post.

Only the agility of Hoult kept the score 1-0 as Middlesbrough threatened again three minutes after the break.

Geremi struck a powerful, swerving drive from 30 yards that the Albion keeper parried and when Job followed up with a bouncing shot Hoult recovered to scoop the ball over.

A break from one end of the field to the other saw Boro come within inches of scoring again. Christie played the leading role again, running to the edge of the West Brom box before delivering a pass to Job.

He went past one challenge to give himself time and space but to no avail as he squeezed his effort the wrong side of a post.

West Brom kept trying and the unthinkable almost happened when Andy Johnson played Igor Balis into space and the Slovakian crossed for Dichio to slide in only for Ugo Ehiogu to make a valuable clearance inside the six-yard box.

Stung by this, Middlesbrough hit back with Geremi forcing an excellent diving save from Hoult. Juninho was unfortunate to see an audacious shot through Sean Gregan's legs miss the target, then with 14 minutes left the Brazilian created Middlesbrough's second.

Greening played a one-two on the edge of the box with Juninho, taking the flicked return in his stride to break through the defensive line and tuck the ball low past Hoult.

Albion finally contrived a proper chance when Balis picked out Dichio but the unmarked striker was woefully off-target with his header.

Substitute Szilard Nemeth finished Albion off after combining with Juninho and finishing expertly.

Teams

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Queudrue, Ehiogu, Southgate, Cooper, Greening, Doriva, Geremi, Juninho Paulista (Stockdale 90), Job (Maccarone 69), Christie (Nemeth 69).

Subs Not Used: Wilkshire, Jones.

Goals: Christie 36, Greening 76, Nemeth 87.

West Brom: Hoult, Clement, Gilchrist, Wallwork, Sigurdsson, Balis (Lyttle 85), Koumas, Gregan, McInnes (Johnson 60), Roberts (Dobie 53), Dichio.

Subs Not Used: Hughes, Murphy.

Booked: Koumas.

Att: 30,187

Ref: M Halsey (Lancashire).