Benito Carbone and Ugo Ehiogu teamed up to turn the tables on former club Aston Villa as they fired Middlesbrough to Premiership safety.

The Italian struck seven minutes before the break and Ehiogu restored his side's lead on 64 minutes after Juan Pablo Angel had levelled to extend Boro's recent run to just two defeats in 17 games.

But Villa left Teesside kicking themselves after a game they dominated for long periods slipped away to a side which rallied after the break to claim a second successive league victory.

Boro boss Steve McClaren can now concentrate on next Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Arsenal knowing that his side will be playing top flight football again next season.

However, he is facing something of a selection headache after seeing striker Noel Whelan join Alen Boksic and Szilard Nemeth on the injured list with Carbone cup-tied.

McClaren had to do without Boksic again through a groin injury, and having paired Whelan with Carbone in attack in the absence of stand-in Nemeth, his plans were further disrupted when the former Leeds frontman limped off with a hamstring injury only 10 minutes into the game.

The Teessiders have not been the most prolific of scorers all season, and the omens were not good for a reversal of that trend, and that proved to be the case as Villa took the game by the scruff of the neck in the early stages.

Mustapha Hadji and George Boateng in particular made good use of the space afforded to them in midfield as Boro missed the suspended Paul Ince, but although giant striker Peter Crouch was a handful for former Villa pair Gareth Southgate and Ehiogu, keeper Mark Schwarzer was not unduly busy before the break.

Angel should have done better when presented with a clear shooting chance at the far post with just eight minutes gone, and Thomas Hitzlsperger crashed a long-range effort into Southgate 10 minutes later.

But it was £4.5million signing Crouch who went closest, turning a 26th-minute Steve Staunton corner towards goal but seeing Luke Wilkshire deflect his shot wide.

At the other end, Dean Windass - a replacement for Whelan - headed a Carbone corner over on the half-hour but it was the Italian in the driving seat seven minutes before the break, and he made no mistake.

Staunton allowed Franck Queudrue's cross to bounce inside his own penalty area and as he waited for the ball to drop, Carbone nipped in and fired past the helpless Peter Schmeichel to give his side the lead against the run of play.

There was a greater intensity to the game after the restart, Windass shooting into the side-netting after linking well with Carbone and Crouch forcing a good save from Schwarzer with a downward header from Staunton's cross.

Ian Taylor only just failed to get the right connection to a 59th-minute Mustapha Hadji corner at the far post, but his side had to wait just two minutes longer for their equaliser.

Crouch got up well to flick on Gareth Barry's long ball and Angel stole a march on Ehiogu to direct his shot past Schwarzer.

However, Ehiogu atoned for his error and silenced his critics among the travelling supporters within four minutes when he powered home a header from Carbone's corner to restore Boro's lead.

From then on, the Teessiders reverted to type, defending tigerishly and attempting to hit their opponents on the counter, which they almost did on 72 minutes when Wilkshire forced a good save from Schmeichel at his near post.

But Villa almost hit back two minutes from time when Barry burst into space on the left and crossed for Crouch, who directed his header straight at a grateful Schwarzer.

Teams

Middlesbrough (1) 2 Aston Villa (0) 1

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Stockdale, Ehiogu, Southgate, Queudrue, Mustoe, Greening, Wilkshire, Johnston, Whelan (Windass 10), Carbone.

Subs Not Used: Festa, Debeve, Marinelli, Crossley.

Goals: Carbone 39, Ehiogu 65.

Aston Villa: Schmeichel, Delaney, Mellberg, Staunton, Barry, Hadji (Vassell 74), Taylor, Boateng, Hitzlsperger, Angel, Crouch.

Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Stone, Balaban, Samuel.

Goals: Angel 60.

Att: 26,003

Ref: G Barber (Tring).