Middlesbrough finally grabbed their first Premiership win of the year to ease
their relegation fears while increasing those of Southampton.
Goals from strikers Mikkel Beck and Hamilton Ricard - their first in 1999 - at
the end of the first half put the Teessiders firmly in the driving seat, and a
third from defender Steve Vickers on 63 minutes sealed the win.
Southampton, still second bottom, missed an opportunity to climb out of the
drop zone while Boro halted an alarming slump in form.
They had collected just three points from a possible 27 going into the match.
Bryan Robson's men were unfortunate not to have taken the lead within the
first five minutes of the game.
Defender Dean Gordon hit a post and forced keeper Paul Jones into a desperate
save, but they gradually wore down their opponents and were well worth the
points.
A similar result at Nottingham Forest next Saturday would leave them just
three points short of manager Bryan Robson's safety target of 42.
Suspensions robbed Boro of four key players, skipper Andy Townsend, Gary
Pallister, Paul Gascoigne and Mark Summerbell all forced to sit the game out.
Former Saint Neil Maddison and Phil Stamp joined Robbie Mustoe in midfield,
while Italian defender Gianluca Festa returned from a hamstring injury to plug
the gap left by Pallister.
Dave Jones left leading scorer Egil Ostenstad on the bench, but included both
Matt Le Tissier and Mark Hughes.
Boro could have been forgiven for thinking it was not going to be their day
within minutes of the restart as Gordon was twice denied a third goal of the
season.
The former Crystal Palace wing-back's left-foot rocket came back off the post
with keeper Paul Jones well beaten on four minutes, and seconds later, Jones
kept out his close-range effort after Robbie Stockdale's cross reached him at
the far post.
In a competitive but untidy opening spell, both sides struggled to establish
any fluency, and Le Tissier became the first player to go into referee Mike
Reed's notebook on 19 minutes for a late challenge on former team-mate
Maddison.
The tension in the stands began to increase the longer the half remained
goalless, and Mr Reed did little to pacify the Boro faithful on the half-hour.
Ken Monkou escaped with a booking after hauling Ricard to the ground on the
edge of the penalty area, and Maddison's free-kick appeared to strike Le
Tissier's hand as is crashed into the defensive wall.
Striker James Beattie cleared Festa's shot off the line as Boro desperately
sought to break through, but a late first-half blitz calmed the nerves.
Boro were camped inside the Southampton box on 44 minutes when Festa's cross
came back off the inside of the post and Beck slotted home unopposed for his
first goal since December 28.
It was two little more than a minute later when Jones misjudged Stockdale's
long ball and Ricard, without a goal since the 3-2 victory at Manchester United
on December 19, gleefully ended his drought.
Southampton almost got themselves back into the game within five minutes of
the restart after Stamp was penalised for a foul on Hassan Kachloul 25 yards
out.
Le Tissier delicately curled the ball towards Schwarzer's top left corner, but
although the Australian was beaten, the crossbar came to his rescue.
The confidence visibly flowed back into Ricard as the game wore on, and Monkou
had his work cut out to keep him under control.
The Colombian got away from his marker on 57 minutes only for his first touch
to let him down, and then it took a brilliant stop from Jones three minutes
later to claw his header out of the top corner following a good ball in from
Stamp.
But victory was assured with 63 minutes gone when Southampton failed to clear
Maddison's corner and defender Steve Vickers hammered the ball home for his
first goal of the season.
The visitors looked well beaten, although Schwarzer did well to keep out a
Beattie header.
Boro lost Stamp through injury with 20 minutes remaining, and his replacement
Brian Deane should have marked his return to action with a fourth after being
played in by Beck.
The striker tried to place the ball wide of Jones, but his tame effort never
looked like beating the keeper, who saved with his legs.
The pace inevitably dropped as both sides went through the motions late on,
with Boro more than happy with their afternoon's work.
Teams:
Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Stockdale, Festa, Vickers, Cooper,
Gordon, Stamp (Deane 71), Mustoe, Maddison, Ricard (Campbell 83),Beck.
Subs Not Used: Beresford, Kinder, Harrison.
Goals: Beck 44, Ricard 45, Vickers 62.
Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, Monkou, Colleter,
Oakley (Ripley 60), Marsden, Kachloul, Le Tissier, Hughes,
Beattie (Ostenstad 88).
Subs Not Used: Moss, Bridge, Hiley.
Booked: Le Tissier, Monkou, Marsden, Kachloul.
Att: 33,387
Ref: M Reed (Birmingham).
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