Christie plays provider as Boro batter Baggies

Middlesbrough 3 West Bromwich Albion

Middlesbrough swept to a comfortable win that kept alive their European hopes after initially making hard work of beating West Bromwich. Steve McClaren's side dominated against the bottom club but it was not until 14 minutes from time that they added to Malcolm Christie's first-half strike. Then Jonathan Greening and the substitute Szilard Nemeth finished off Albion.

McClaren said: "Some of our attacking play was breathtaking but just lacked that final finish. I was getting a little frustrated as we created enough chances and I thought it was going to be one of those days."

Seldom will Middlesbrough have easier Premiership games. Inspired by Christie and Juninho, and anchored at the back by Ugo Ehiogu and Gareth Southgate, they were rarely threatened.

For West Bromwich this was another game for manager Gary Megson to watch in anguish from the technical area. "I asked the players to show pride, commitment, attitude and character and they did but we couldn't cope with the World Cup winners, international players and players from Real Madrid," he said, referring to Boro's impressive array of talent.

Christie was the master provider and was influential from the first whistle as Middlesbrough bristled with menace. In the 36th minute Christie took matters into his own hands to break West Brom's resistance. He picked up a pass from Joseph-Desiré Job on the left, cut inside one challenge and twisted past another before drilling a low shot inside the near-post to leave Russell Hoult wrong-footed.

Finally, on 76 minutes Greening played a one-two on the edge of the box with Juninho, taking the flicked return in his stride to break through the defensive line and tuck the ball low past Hoult. Then Nemeth combined with Juninho and finished expertly.

Middlesbrough 3 West Bromwich Albion 0
Christie 36, Greening 76, Nemeth 87

Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 30,187