Goals from Christophe Dugarry, Stephen Clemence and Stan Lazaridis eased Blues home against Steve McClaren's men who now find themselves below a Blues side in tremendous form, and a mere 3 points off 8th place.
Steve Bruce was able to once again field an unchanged eleven, meaning Lazaridis having to settle for a place on the bench again as Bryan Hughes continued down the left. Boro were dealt a blow with Juninho failing a fitness test, and thus joining Geremi on the sidelines.
Blues started fairly well, though perhaps a little complacent following recent performances. There was almost an air of 'well, get the ball to Dugarry, and we'll be ok'. Once they began to knuckle down though, things started to happen, and after 18 minutes they found themselves 1-0 up. Stephen Clemence lifted the ball up and over the visitors defence, and Dugarry beat the offside trap to find himself in absolute acres of space. The Frenchman simply took the ball on his chest, and swivelled to hit a volley low past Mark Schwarzer. The fact that the Boro defenders berated one another rather than the officials suggested that despite the appearance, Dugarry was probably onside.
Blues continued to press, with Dugarry as influential as ever and Robbie Savage and Clemence bossing the midfield. Dugarry hit a weak free kick into Schwarzer's arms, before 5 minutes before half time Blues were awarded another free kick just outside the area following a foul on - you guessed it - Christophe Dugarry. As the Boro wall sorted itself out, and Dugarry eyed up another crack at goal, Clemence clearly spotted a gap in the wall and drove a low effort into the corner to make it 2-0.
Boro themselves actually created something just prior to half time, when a Frank Queudrue corner found Ugo Ehiogu completely unmarked in the area, only for the ex-Villa defenders header to be cleared off the line well by Hughes. At half time Boro switched to a 4-4-2 formation, taking off Colin Cooper who had a torrid time trying to deal with Geoff Horsfield, and bringing on midfielder Doriva.
The change didn't have much impact, though Blues began to look a little over-confident, and were beginning to lose the ball too easily. Middlesbrough were totally unable to capitalise, however, with Michael Ricketts and Malcolm Christie - two of England's brightest young strikers allegedly - marshalled superbly by Kenny Cunningham and Matty Upson. Christie did have Boro's best chance, when he fired a drive straight at Ian Bennett (who has now kept yet another clean sheet) which the Blues keeper parried, only for Christie to cross before another former Villa man in George Boateng headed over.
After 80 minutes, it was all over thanks to Lazaridis. The Australian winger, barely noted for his heading ability, netted his second goal of the season - both scored with his head. He followed up his strike at Villa Park with a fine header from a much trickier position after a deep Savage cross. Lazaridis' Australian team-mate Schwarzer got a hand to it, but was unable to prevent Blues sealing an emphatic victory.
The Blues performance wasn't quite as free-flowing as others of late, and perhaps the players took their foot of the gas a little early, but at the same time, let's not grumble. The fact is that following seven wins out of the last nine games, Blues are more than comfortably safe, and are now looking up the table at the likes of Southampton, Charlton and Spurs, rather than concerning themselves with the strugglers like Bolton, West Ham and our oh-so-illustrious neighbours. Finally though, the club can begin to prepare for another hard slog next season, knowing full well that we'll be a Premiership club once again. I don't need to tell anyone which player it has to be the priority to sign... after five goals in his last four matches, Christophe Dugarry is already a hero to Blues fans, but by signing for another season, he'd achieve God-like status.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Bennett - Redundant
Kenna - Solid if not spectacular
Clapham - Comfortable
Upson - Grows in stature every game
Cunningham - Excellent
Savage - Back to his best
Clemence - Confident all-round display
Johnson - Best performance for a while
Hughes - Assured, and at times aggressive
Dugarry - Mesmerising
Horsfield - Started well, but lost effectiveness as game wore on
SUBS:
Lazaridis - Anonymous apart from goal really
Devlin - Lively
John - Reasonable