Millwall move out of relegation zone with win at Middlesbrough

Millwall moved out of the Championship relegation zone with a vital 2-1 win away at Middlesbrough this afternoon.

Middlesbrough almost took a seventh-minute lead, but David Forde did well to tip Danny Graham's effort onto the post.

However, after a quarter of an hour Stefan Maierhofer netted his first Millwall goal with a strong header from an inviting Lee Martin cross on the left wing.

Martin then almost netted himself with a powerful strike a minute later which flew narrowly over the crossbar.

The second goal, which came after half an hour, was identical to the first, with Maierhofer powering a header home at the far post from another Martin cross.

Middlesbrough almost got a goal back when Emmanuel Ledesma sliced a cross onto the roof of the net, before Lee Tomlin fired a shot down the throat of Forde.

Steve Morison should have put the game out of sight, but Dimitrios Konstantopoulos saved well from the forward in a one-on-one situation.

Shortly afterwards, Konstantopoulos saved again from Martyn Woolford after he was teed up by Morison.

Middlesbrough were given a lifeline when Scott Malone pulled Graham back on the edge of the box, and Ledesma flighted the resulting free kick into the top corner to make it 2-1 with 10 minutes remaining. However, Boro couldn't find an equaliser.