Middlesbrough vs Swansea City. Premier League.
Riverside StadiumAttendance28,302.
Saturday 17 December 2016 18:23, UK
Alvaro Negredo scored twice to help Middlesbrough beat fellow strugglers Swansea City 3-0 at the Riverside on Saturday afternoon.
The home side led 2-0 at the break thanks to Negredo's double, the first a brilliant volley, before the striker added another from the penalty spot.
Boro then wrapped up the points when Marten De Roon side-footed home just before the hour-mark to end a poor recent run of two straight league defeats without scoring.
As a result, Aitor Karanka's team have moved up to 14th in the table, four points clear of the drop zone, while the Swans are now three points from safety in 19th position.
Middlesbrough made just the one change from the team that lost 3-0 to Liverpool on Wednesday night, with Gaston Ramirez replacing Adama Traore.
Swansea also made the one alteration to the side that went down 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion in midweek, with Modou Barrow coming in for Jefferson Montero, and it was they who started the brighter of the two.
Top-scorer Gylfi Sigurdsson had an early shot from just outside the area that Victor Valdes was forced to beat clear to safety, although that early pressure did not last long as the home team took the lead after 18 minutes.
Ramirez won back possession just inside his own area, before releasing Adam Clayton down the left, and the midfielder then broke forward before pulling the ball back for Negredo in the box.
However, the Spaniard still had much work to do in order to hook his volley back from where the ball came, with Lukasz Fabianski left with no chance as Negredo's shot found the bottom corner of the goal.
That strike came against the run of play and appeared to knock the Swans' confidence, with Boro taking full advantage as 11 minutes later they moved into a two-goal lead, although Bob Bradley disputed the throw in that led to the penalty.
Whether the American was right or wrong about his complaints, his players were not alert to the danger as Boro took a quick throw in on the right-hand side, with Adam Forshaw then being felled by Jordi Amat's clumsy challenge.
Referee Neil Swarbrick wasted no time in pointing to the spot, with Negredo keeping his cool by casually sending Fabianski the wrong way from the resulting penalty.
If Swansea were going to get back into the game, then they had to score next, but those hopes were dashed when Boro added a third after 58 minutes following a brilliant team goal.
The free-flowing move started with Valdes at the back and after a number of passes, the ball was worked to Ramirez, lurking towards the right of the area, and the Uruguay playmaker then curled in an inch-perfect cross for De Roon to convert from just six yards out.
It was the first time that Middlesbrough had scored three times in the Premier League since April 2009 against Hull City, while the visitors have now shipped a worrying 37 top-flight goals this season, including 11 in their last three away games.
Player ratings
Middlesbrough: Valdes (7), Barragan (7), Chambers (6), Gibson (7), Da Silva (7), Forshaw (7), Clayton (6), de Roon (6), Ramirez (9), Negredo (8), Fischer (6)
Used subs: Friend (7), Downing (7), Traore (6)
Swansea City: Fabianski (7), Rangel (6), Mawson (6), Amat (6), Taylor (6), Fulton (6), Britton (6), Barrow (6), Sigurdsson (7), Routledge (6), Llorente (6)
Used subs: Fer (7), Borja Baston (7), Montero (7)
Man of the Match: Gaston Ramirez
