Middlesbrough 4-1 Wigan Athletic: Chuba Akpom hat-trick helps Boro win
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Former Arsenal forward Chuba Akpom has moved on to 12 Championship goals this season
Chuba Akpom's hat-trick kept up Middlesbrough's surge towards the Championship play-off places with victory over Wigan Athletic.
The striker took his goal tally to 12 for the season with three goals after Marcus Forss' opener, all assisted by left-back Ryan Giles.
Defeat means new Latics boss Kolo Toure is still without a win in three games, leaving the visitors anchored in the relegation zone after eight defeats from their past 11.
Boro, however, are now just two points outside the top six.
The north-east side have garnered 16 points from the eight games in which Michael Carrick has been in charge, taking the lead through Forss' neat finish after a bright start from Kolo Toure's Wigan side.
Boro took full control in the second half as the understanding between Giles and Akpom exposed the Latics' defensive frailties.
Hayden Hackney opened up the visitors' defence to send Giles down the left, and Akpom was on the end of his cross to make it 2-0 on 49 minutes.
The former England Under-21 international again finished well after Giles' strong run had created problems for the defence.
Wigan gave themselves some hope as Thelo Aasgaard gave a quick reply, volleying in from Max Power's cross, but Boro saw out the game.
Akpom claimed the match-ball from yet another Giles pass to secure Boro's first league double over Wigan.
Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick told BBC Radio Tees:
"I am delighted for Chuba, he'll get the headlines and rightly so because he's a huge threat at the moment for us, and is getting his rewards in front of goal.
"He's getting his chances and putting them away and could have had one or two more on another day. But it's more about his performances and what he brings to the team, his link-up play and taking up clever positions that give other people space.
"He's in a purple patch at the moment and hopefully it continues for a long time.
"I thought the boys applied themselves really well and got what they deserved.
"The atmosphere was terrific and something we'd love to have more of. It's up to us to entertain and excite and keep everyone in the stadium for as long as we can because it's great to have that rapport with the fans.
"(Wigan) came to play, credit to them, they're a good team and you can see what Kolo's doing. They weren't easy to play against but the lads stuck at it really well."
Wigan boss Kolo Toure told BBC Radio Manchester:
"It was a difficult afternoon. I felt like we started well, and put them under pressure, creating chances.
"I think we could have been much more aggressive on it, to score, really. Then after that we just gave away a goal from a throw-in, lacking a little bit of concentration in that situation.
"One-nil down you start to feel the pressure but we kept going, putting them under pressure and we could have done better again. Defensively at times we were passive in some of the actions, which we need to correct."