Middlesbrough 4-1 Ipswich Town

Adomah gave Middlesbrough the half-time lead with a low drive

Middlesbrough stayed with the pace at the top of the Championship with a superb win over rivals Ipswich.

Daniel Ayala gave Boro the advantage with a firm header in the fourth minute before Town's Daryl Murphy tapped in.

Boro regained the lead through Albert Adomah, who drilled in, before Patrick Bamford struck twice after the break with two brilliant individual efforts.

Town suffered an early blow when keeper Dean Gerken was carried off with an injury suffered during the first goal.

There was an eight-minute stoppage as Gerken, who appeared to collide with one of his players in a bid to reach Adam Clayton's cross for the goal, received treatment on the pitch.

He was taken off on a stretcher and replaced by Bartosz Bialkowski. Reports later said Gerken was fine but would going to hospital for a full check.

The delay appeared to give Ipswich's players time to regroup and they equalised soon after the restart when keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos parried Jonathan Parr's shot into the path of Murphy, who was left with a simple finish.

The visitors - who started the day five points off the quartet of Bournemouth, Derby, Watford and Boro - went agonisingly close to taking the lead when Murphy's shot took a huge deflection and came off the post into the hands of the Boro stopper.

Instead it was manager Aitor Karanka's side who made it 2-1 when Ghana winger Adomah gave Bialkowski little chance with a fierce strike.

And after a quiet start to the second period, Boro's top scorer Bamford extended the advantage when he collected the ball from Jelle Vossen before running into the area and slotting in.

Bamford then scored the goal of the match. On this occasion, the former Nottingham Forest man turned and sold a dummy to Tommy Smith before finishing with a low shot.

Boro have 69 points and are third on goal difference behind Watford and leaders Bournemouth, who won later on Saturday.

Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka:

"Patrick deserves those goals for his work rate and he showed great confidence in the way he took both of them.

"It was massive to win, we needed a performance today and I thought we were brilliant against a good, strong team.

"We've played against a very strong team who finished the game with four strikers and the main thing is that we're eight points ahead of them in seventh.

"To be eight points ahead of them is a good situation for us."

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy:

"We worked on defending corners and conceded two goals from them.

"We were great in the first half and second half we were undone by a really good goal by Patrick Bamford, it's great play by him.

"I'll take responsibility after 3-1. I threw strikers on, we were all over the place and a bit of a shambles at the end. We're organised at corners normally and shouldn't concede."

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Middlesbrough

• 13Konstantopoulos
• 26Kalas
• 6GibsonBooked at 55mins
• 4AyalaSubstituted forWoodgateat 24'minutes
• 3Friend
• 8Clayton
• 7LeadbitterSubstituted forNsueat 88'minutes
• 27AdomahBooked at 78mins
• 23Bamford
• 20ReachBooked at 73mins
• 21VossenSubstituted forForshawat 68'minutes

Substitutes

• 9Kike
• 10Tomlin
• 12Ripley
• 18Whitehead
• 24Nsue
• 34Forshaw
• 39Woodgate

Ipswich

• 1GerkenSubstituted forBialkowskiat 10'minutes
• 4Chambers
• 5SmithBooked at 28mins
• 6Berra
• 3Mings
• 2Parr
• 8Skuse
• 27BishopBooked at 45minsSubstituted forVarneyat 84'minutes
• 18TabbSubstituted forWoodat 69'minutes
• 20Sears
• 9Murphy

Substitutes

• 11Anderson
• 14Chaplow
• 15Varney
• 17Bru
• 28Clarke
• 33Bialkowski
• 39Wood

Referee:

Mike Jones

Attendance:

18,909

Match Stats

Home TeamMiddlesbroughAway TeamIpswich

Possession

Home43%

Away57%

Shots

Home13

Away22

Shots on Target

Home4

Away4

Corners

Home3

Away13

Fouls

Home15

Away12

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Middlesbrough 4, Ipswich Town 1.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+4'

Second Half ends, Middlesbrough 4, Ipswich Town 1.

Posted at 90'+2'

Corner, Ipswich Town. Conceded by Adam Reach.

Posted at 90'+2'

Luke Varney (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 90'+2'

Foul by Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough).

Posted at 90'+1'

Attempt missed. Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Adam Forshaw with a headed pass.

Posted at 89'

Attempt missed. Emilio Nsue Lopez (Middlesbrough) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Albert Adomah with a cross.

Substitution

Posted at 88'

Substitution, Middlesbrough. Emilio Nsue Lopez replaces Grant Leadbitter.

Posted at 87'

Attempt missed. Luke Varney (Ipswich Town) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Daryl Murphy with a cross.

Posted at 86'

Attempt missed. Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Albert Adomah following a fast break.

Substitution

Posted at 84'

Substitution, Ipswich Town. Luke Varney replaces Teddy Bishop.

Posted at 83'

Corner, Ipswich Town. Conceded by Patrick Bamford.

Posted at 82'

Corner, Ipswich Town. Conceded by Tomas Kalas.

Posted at 82'

Attempt blocked. Freddie Sears (Ipswich Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Daryl Murphy.

Posted at 82'

Attempt missed. Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Adam Forshaw.

Goal!

Posted at 79'

Goal! Middlesbrough 4, Ipswich Town 1. Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Grant Leadbitter.

Booking

Posted at 78'

Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card.

Posted at 78'

Attempt blocked. Jonathan Parr (Ipswich Town) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Teddy Bishop.

Posted at 77'

Corner, Ipswich Town. Conceded by George Friend.

Posted at 75'

Foul by Chris Wood (Ipswich Town).

Posted at 75'

Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 75'

Attempt missed. Adam Clayton (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Adam Forshaw.

Booking

Posted at 73'

Adam Reach (Middlesbrough) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 73'

Teddy Bishop (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 73'

Foul by Adam Reach (Middlesbrough).

Posted at 71'

Foul by Teddy Bishop (Ipswich Town).

Posted at 71'

Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Substitution

Posted at 69'

Substitution, Ipswich Town. Chris Wood replaces Jay Tabb.

Substitution

Posted at 68'

Substitution, Middlesbrough. Adam Forshaw replaces Jelle Vossen.

Posted at 67'

Teddy Bishop (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 67'

Foul by Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough).

Posted at 66'

Attempt missed. Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Jay Tabb with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 66'

Corner, Ipswich Town. Conceded by Ben Gibson.

Posted at 66'

Attempt blocked. Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jay Tabb with a cross.

Posted at 66'

Corner, Ipswich Town. Conceded by Tomas Kalas.

Goal!

Posted at 64'

Goal! Middlesbrough 3, Ipswich Town 1. Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jelle Vossen.

Posted at 61'

Offside, Ipswich Town. Freddie Sears tries a through ball, but Jay Tabb is caught offside.

Posted at 61'

Offside, Middlesbrough. Adam Clayton tries a through ball, but Albert Adomah is caught offside.

Posted at 60'

Teddy Bishop (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 60'

Foul by Jelle Vossen (Middlesbrough).

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