Matt Target with a big smile on his face after scoring for Middlesbrough at BirminghamShutterstock

Matt Targett has scored four times for Middlesbrough this season

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport England

Matt Targett scored twice in a game for the first time in his career as Middlesbrough saw off Birmingham City to get back to winning ways in the Championship.

After three games without a victory, the on-loan Newcastle United defender struck twice in the first half to enable Boro to cut the gap to leaders Coventry City back to five points.

Marvin Ducksch pulled one back at the start of the second half for Blues before David Strelec's header on the hour-mark sealed the victory.

The result also restored a vital four-point cushion over Millwall in third, as Kim Hellberg's side seek a Premier League return for the first time since 2017.

It was only a second home league defeat for Blues in 42 matches as they drop a place to 12th, eight points adrift of the play-off spots, on a weekend when all of the Championship's top nine teams won.

Boro bounce back

For the third Monday out of four, Middlesbrough found themselves on the road and in the spotlight.

They were hugely impressive in beating Sheffield United three weeks ago to go top, before defeat at Coventry City seven days later saw the Sky Blues climb back to the summit.

The loss at the CBS Arena was then followed by two disappointing home draws with bottom three sides Oxford United and Leicester City.

That had allowed Coventry to re-establish an eight-point cushion going into this game as well as seeing the sides below them close the gap.

But after coming through a difficult opening, Boro scored with their first attack.

Targett got forward from his left wing-back role with Boro having switched from a back four to a back five, broke Blues' offside trap, took Aidan Morris' lofted pass on his chest and with his second touch, stroked it past goalkeeper James Beadle in the manner of a natural centre-forward.

Targett had managed only seven goals in 252 previous career games and never two in one match, but he rewrote that statistic on 26 minutes.

Blues failed to clear their lines and Hayden Hackney squared it for the 30-year-old to produce an almost identical finish to his first, as he calmly slotted home much to his delight as an ex-Aston Villa player.

Blues play-off hopes fade

Chris Davies on the touchlineShutterstock

Chris Davies has struggled for consistency from his Birmingham side this season

After a disappointing first half of the season on their return to the Championship, Blues have been moving in the right direction in 2026, helped by six January arrivals demonstrating their undoubted ambition.

The heavy midweek loss at Millwall was a first in nine games, but they have maintained strong home form to keep them in the hunt for a play-off spot as they chase successive promotions.

To do that now, they will require an almost faultless final third of the campaign.

Tommy Doyle brought a fine save out of Sol Brynn inside the first three minutes before they were rocked by Targett's two goals.

Ducksch halved the deficit following a fine cutback from Jay Stansfield three minutes into the second period and the Germany forward almost equalised but Brynn got down low to push his effort behind.

Blues looked much improved from the passive outfit they had been in the first half.

However, just as they were trying to build up a head of steam, Boro's third finished off their chances.

Slovakia forward Strelec was about to be substituted, but stayed on long enough to score a textbook header from Ayling's cross for his first goal since mid-December, and a crucial one in Boro's quest for promotion.

With Ipswich Town in fourth and fifth-placed Hull City meeting on Tuesday, the gap between themselves and the chasing pack could be reduced to three points, emphasising just how much the Teessiders needed this result.

'First goal rocked us' - Blues reaction

Davies: 'One step forward, two steps back'

Birmingham City manager Chris Davies told BBC WM:

"Very disappointing. We haven't had many nights like this at home since I've been here.

"It was a good start, we really got after them, we were on the front foot, exactly the type of start we wanted to make and then a goal out of nothing really. It's a really soft goal from our point of view.

"It rocked us a little bit and then the second goal was really poor, some wrong decisions, we end up in a ridiculous situation where it's bouncing around our box and they score.

"It gave us a lot to do against a good team and from that point, I wasn't happy with how we responded. We played back too much, we stopped running forward.

"Second half, we came out with more impetus, more forward runs, got ourselves into a great position with a good goal but the third goal was a killer. Once that went in, it was very difficult to get something.

"So yes, a tough one."

'Pressing was outstanding' - Boro reaction

Hellberg: Boro 'need to enjoy the ride'

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees:

"You come to this place - one loss in two years - they've been absolutely brilliant and you can see that, a very good squad, a lot of good players.

"For most of the game, we were very, very good, especially in the first half. It was well deserved.

"Our pressing today was outstanding. How hard we worked, how many balls we won high, how we frustrated them. The high pressing and energy today was the key and it's good to see we can win like that, absolutely brilliant."

Player of the match

M. Targett
8.75
33 M. Ducksch
5.02
10 D. Gray
4.49
16 P. Roberts
4.48
31 K. Wagner
4.47
4 C. Klarer
4.46
7 T. Doyle
4.46
28 J. Stansfield
4.32
24 T. Iwata
4.12
23 Carlos Vicente
4.03
37 J. Panzo
4.02
2 E. Laird
4.00
29 A. Priske
3.83
26 B. Osayi-Samuel
3.80
17 I. Osman
3.65
8 Paik Seung-Ho
3.65
25 J. Beadle
3.19
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