Stoke 2-0 Middlesbrough: Potters breathe life into survival fight
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Stoke recorded a second clean sheet in four games
Goals in either half from Bae Junho and Lewis Baker helped Stoke to a much-needed victory over Middlesbrough at the Bet365 Stadium.
Junho's opener came after both sides squandered early opportunities, with a tidy low finish into the corner.
Then, on 71 minutes, Baker made sure of just a second win in eight games and a vital result in their battle against relegation.
The home side remain 22nd, but are level on points with Huddersfield and Birmingham above them, while Boro, who lost ground in the play-off race, sit 14th.
Both sides traded early opportunities. Inside the first three minutes, Riley McGree was thwarted by Stoke goalkeeper Daniel Iversen, who was quick off his line after the Australian was found by Luke Thomas' pass.
At the other end, Million Manhoef ghosted in at the back post but couldn't keep his shot down to test Seny Dieng in the Boro goal.
But Dieng was called into action with just under 15 minutes of the first half remaining, forced to push away a header from Niall Ennis.
Stoke took the lead through Junho's second goal in as many gamees seven minutes later as the striker bulled the Boro backline before unleashing a shot to find the bottom left corner.
The home side continued to force the issue after the break, but again they failed to cause Dieng enough trouble as the hour mark approached and Josh Laurent could only shoot straight at him.
With 19 minutes remaining, the hosts doubled their lead and deservedly so. A corner routine straight from the training ground found Baker, whose shot deflected to wrong foot the unfortunate Dieng.
Michael Carrick's side now have a mountain to climb to get into the top six, after a fourth defeat in five matches, while they are just six points above the drop zone.
Stoke manager Steven Schumacher told BBC Radio Stoke:
"I felt we played really well; it is a performance we needed after a tough run. Everything we asked for we got. The crowd were outstanding.
"First goals are huge in the Championship and we have to thank our goalkeeper for that.
"Daniel [Iversen] made a huge save at 0-0. If that had gone in, the atmosphere would have changed and Middlesbrough would have had the confidence."
Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick told BBC Radio Tees:
"The first half was pretty decent, we started well and created chances. We had a good spell before they scored; their goal came a little from nowhere.
"Second half, I'm disappointed we didn't chase it well. We can be better at that. We are all desperate for points; the decision-making didn't give us enough chance to create things.
"Going behind makes things harder. We didn't get the result we wanted. We've got to dig deep, dust ourselves down and go again."