Christian Stuani and - inevitably - David Nugent were on target in the second half as Middlesbrough climbed to the top of the Championship via a 2-0 victory over Town at Portman Road. After the Blues had had the better of the first half, Stuani headed the opener on 54, then 20 minutes later Town’s nemesis Nugent scored his 15th goal in 14 games against Town and his 10th in eight at Portman Road.
Town named an unchanged XI but with David McGoldrick returning to the bench after recovering from his groin injury.
Winger Tommy Oar missed out on a place amongst the subs having picked up a knock in training, while Adam McDonnell replaced Joe Robinson in the 18. Former Blues skipper Grant Leadbitter started and skippered the Teessiders.
The game got under way but was very quickly halted when Ainsley Maitland-Niles required treatment for a head injury after George Friend arrived late as they went for the same aerial ball.
Town, playing a 4-4-2 formation with Freddie Sears on the left, threatened for the first time in the fifth minute when Maitland-Niles cut the ball across from the right to the former Colchester man, whose shot from a tight angle at the near post was blocked by Adam Clayton.
There was a big scare for the Blues following the resultant corner when Cole Skuse inadvertently found Stewart Downing with a pass back towards Chambers on halfway. Fortunately for Town the Blues skipper held his ground and blocked the former England international’s shot.
Brett Pitman hit a low strike which Boro keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos claimed without trouble in the ninth minute, then at the other end Dean Gerken was similarly unruffled by Blues nemesis David Nugent’s first effort of the game.
On 14 the Teessiders broke quickly down the left, Albert Adomah crossed and Christian Stuani volleyed into the ground and into Gerken’s arms from a tight angle on the right.
The Blues first seriously tested Konstantopoulos in the 23rd minute when Pitman sent Daryl Murphy away on the right. The Irish international chased the ball to the byline then played it back to the ex-Bournemouth man, who hit a powerful shot from the edge of the area which the Boro keeper palmed away.
Town went close again on 28 when Pitman crossed from the left to the far post to Chambers, but Konstantopoulos reacted quickly to block his half-volley and then paw the ball behind as the Blues captain looked to get to the rebound.
Boro defender Ben Gibson picked up the game’s first yellow card for pulling back Pitman midway inside the visitors’ half five minutes before the break. The Blues striker took the freekick himself but shot well over.
Neither side created another chance before referee Tim Robinson brought the half to an end.
Town were warmly applauded off having had the better of their second-placed opponents and the best of the game’s few chances.
Boro keeper Konstantopoulos had done well to stop Pitman’s strike and Chambers’s header, while at the other end the Town defence had prevented Nugent from being able to add to his goals against the Blues and at Portman Road, although the visitors had looked a threat on the break.
Konstantopoulos was forced into another save less than two minutes after the restart. Maitland-Niles seized on sloppy Boro passing on the Blues right and sent over a deep cross towards Pitman.
Daniel Ayala just got the faintest of touches as the ball came across taking it slightly away from the Town striker, who still managed to head back across the keeper, who got down and across to his left to save.
Blues keeper Gerken made an even more impressive stop a minute later. A cross from the right was headed back across goal by Adomah and Berra’s weak header only reached Leadbitter, who hit a powerful strike from eight yards which Gerken somehow managed to divert over the bar. Soon after, Leadbitter was booked for a foul.
Gerken had stopped what looked to be a certain goal, but in the 54th minute the visitors went in front.
Maitland-Niles misjudged a header sending Adomah away on the right. The former Bristol City man cut inside Smith - with Chambers allowing him too much space as he retreated - and sent over a cross towards the far post where Stuani got in ahead of Jonas Knudsen to nod home.
Berra was shown Town’s first yellow card of the evening for a foul on Nugent on 58 and three minutes later, the former Leicester man teed up Downing just outside the box, the midfielder hitting a well-struck shot which Gerken saved down to his left.
Maitland-Niles was replaced by Giles Coke in the 63rd minute, the ex-Sheffield Wednesday man joining Skuse and Jonathan Douglas in a midfield three with Sears now up front with Pitman and Murphy.
Downing hit a deflected shot not too far wide in the 68th minute, then a minute later Stuani diverted Friend’s cross wide at the near post with the Teessiders having been on top since their goal.
And in the 74th minute the inevitable happened, Nugent added to his remarkable goalscoring records against Town and at Portman Road.
Downing broke away down the right and found Nugent with a superb ball which put the striker through one on one against Smith on the edge of the Blues’ area, from where he hit a shot which deflected off the Town defender, struck the post and found the net.
Town went close to pulling a goal back in the 80th minute but once again Konstantopoulos stood in their way. A cross from the right reached Knudsen at the far post and the Greek keeper blocked the Dane’s close-range header.
Boro, who were very much in charge as the game moved into its final five minutes, went close to making it 3-0 when Nugent bundled Gerken’s save from Downing’s shot wide of the post from close range.
McGoldrick replaced Pitman on 86 but soon after the visitors went close again when Gerken deflected sub Adam Forshaw’s cross-shot from a tight angle across the six-yard area. Adomah was eventually first to the loose ball but Chambers blocked his stab towards goal.
A Blues comeback never looked on the cards in the closing stages and referee Robinson’s whistle confirmed Town’s fifth defeat of the season.
After the Blues had had the better of the first half and a decent chance in the opening minutes of the second, impressive Boro upped their game and once they had got in front their victory was never in any real doubt.
Nugent’s latest addition to his extraordinary record, which now stretches back more than a decade to his time with Preston, sealed the Teessiders’ first three points at Portman Road since March 1993.
Town, who have won only one of their last eight at home, have dropped a place to eighth behind Sheffield Wednesday on goal difference.
Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Maitland-Niles (Coke 63), Douglas, Sears, Murphy, Pitman (McGoldrick 86). Unused: Bialkowski, Malarczyk, Parr, Tabb, McDonnell.
MIddlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter (c), Clayton, Stuani (Forshaw 85), Downing, Adomah, Nugent. Unused: Mejias, Amorebieta, Kike, Kalas, Fabbrini, Zuculini. Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex). Att: 17,662 (Boro: 491).