Middlesbrough 2 Scunthorpe 0: Boyd bags opener as Boro ease relegation fears
Kris Boyd scored his 200th career goal as Middlesbrough eased their
relegation concerns and piled further pressure on fellow npower
Championship strugglers Scunthorpe.
Boyd, who was linked with
a move away from the Riverside Stadium in the transfer window, opened
the scoring in the eighth minute when he latched onto a hopeful ball
forward from Seb Hines before coolly lobbing Josh Lillis.
The hosts spurned several chances to extend their advantage but grabbed a second in the 69th minute as Tony McMahon's left-wing free-kick sailed into the far corner.

Boyd's back: Kris Boyd scored his 200th career goal to put Boro in front
McMahon's strike came seven minutes after a bizarre incident that
saw referee Rob Lewis award Middlesbrough a penalty, only to change his
mind following consultation with one of his assistants.
Lewis took centre stage again with 16 minutes remaining as he dismissed
Scunthorpe midfielder Abdi Ibrahim for a second bookable offence.
The
Iron have now lost nine of their last 11 Championship fixtures and
remain 23rd, but things are finally starting to look up for Boro, who
are unbeaten in six league games.
Julio Arca and Marvin Emnes
returned to the Middlesbrough team in place of Barry Robson (ankle) and
Gary O'Neil, who was sold to West Ham last week. New signing Maxi Haas
was named among the substitutes.
Joe Garner made his
Scunthorpe debut following his loan move from Nottingham Forest, but
fellow forward Lee Miller was denied permission to face his parent
club.
Michael Nelson was also unavailable as he did not sign in time to play in the fixture.
It
was the visitors who threatened first in the seventh minute as Eddie
Nolan headed straight at Jason Steele from Mark Duffy's free-kick.
However, Boro went in front moments later as Boyd pounced on some slack defending to notch his sixth league goal of the season.
Boyd
and Hines spurned further chances and Bobby Grant headed wide for the
Iron before the game sprung into life in the latter stages of the first
half.
Andrew Taylor's excellent low cross provided Leroy Lita
with a golden opportunity to double Boro's lead in the 34th minute,
only for the striker to miss the target with a sliding effort from
inside the six-yard box.
Scunthorpe's Mark Duffy then curled
a 30-yard free-kick narrowly wide of the top-left corner, but the hosts
were quickly back on the attack, with Joe Bennett firing over following
good work from Emnes and Arca testing Lillis from the edge of the area.
The hosts also saw a penalty appeal rejected shortly before half-time when the ball appeared to strike Andrew Wright on the arm.
Tony Mowbray's men continued to push forward after the interval and Lillis was relieved to see an Arca free-kick drift wide of his right-hand post.
Boro
were awarded a spot-kick in the 62nd minute as Lita tumbled under
pressure from Wright, but referee Lewis duly reversed his decision to
the fury of the home crowd.
The controversy was soon forgotten as McMahon found the far corner with an inswinging free-kick from the left.
Ibrahim then picked up a second yellow card for a foul on the impressive Emnes as Scunthorpe's evening went from bad to worse.
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