Boro slump to 3-1 defeat at home to Bristol City
Middlesbrough fell to a disappointing 3-1 defeat at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts went into the game in high spirits having won away at Millwall in midweek, but were stunned by Bristol City.
The manner of the defeat will be a source of concern for manager Neil Warnock.
Despite starting the same 11 that won midweek, Boro looked disjointed and out of sorts.
They made the worst possible start, going 1-0 down after six minutes following a tidy finish from Nahki Wells.
Boro never seemed to recover from the early goal and Bristol City had chances to score before Jamie Paterson made it 2-0, three minutes before the break.
Bristol City continued to press forward in the second half and Boro had stopper Dejan Stojanovic to thank with his astute saves.
Wells notched his second of the game in the 79th minute, lashing onto a through ball from the impressive Andreas Weimann and making a tidy finish beyond the on rushing Stojanovic.
Britt Assombalonga grabbed a consolation goal three minutes later, stroking home from close range.
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Despite the scoreline, Boro remain two points off the drop as their rivals failed to gain on them in the latest round of fixtures.