Wigan Athletic 0-1 Middlesbrough

Aliadiere (89)

Jeremie Aliadiere scored a late winner to give Middlesbrough their first away league victory of 2008.

Wigan  dominated this game for long periods but were denied by an outstanding defensive display by Boro.

Amr Zaki saw a first-half shot well saved by Ross Turnbull.

Boro pressed forward late on and Aliadiere scored cooly from a superb move.The victory has moved Middlesbrough away from the relegation zone.

Wigan manager Steve Bruce:
"In the opening exchanges they did not get a kick so they had to change their formation.

"When you are in the ascendancy like that you have to score and we did not.

"We did not deserve to get beaten and we would have settled for a 0-0 draw.

"We have been mugged in the last minute and that is frustrating."

Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate:
"We rolled our sleeves up and were tough mentally and we deserved something from the game because we took our chance.

"The irony is that we played better in the previous two games and got nothing from them.

"This has been a hard period because we have had a lot of games away from home.

"We have had several good performances but with no reward, but this gives us confidence going into the international break and then we will face Chelsea."

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Scharner, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios (De Ridder 85), Kapo (Koumas 67), Zaki (Camara 81), Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Taylor, Kilbane, Brown.

Booked: Zaki, Cattermole, Scharner.

Middlesbrough: Turnbull, Hoyte, Wheater, Riggott, Grounds, Aliadiere, O'Neil, Shawky (Digard 58), Downing, Alves (Adam Johnson 79), Mido.

Subs Not Used: Jones, Emnes, John Johnson, Walker, Craddock.

Goals: Aliadiere 89.

Att: 16,806

Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).