MIDDLESBROUGH made it two wins in the space of three days as second-half goals from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Marcus Forss sealed a 2-0 win at QPR.

Having seen off Norwich on home soil on Wednesday, Michael Carrick’s side produced an even more impressive display as they deservedly saw off a QPR side that had lost just one of their previous nine games.

Latte Lath’s volleyed finish opened the scoring, with the Ivorian converting Matt Clarke’s cross, before Forss added a second goal 12 minutes later, heading home at the back post after Luke Ayling crossed from the right.

It was the opposite end where Boro were especially impressive though, with Rav van den Berg excelling at the heart of a five-man backline, ably supported by Jonny Howson, who was superb as a defensive-midfield screen at the base of midfield.

The clean sheet was their first in the league since before Christmas, with the victory lifting them to within eight points of the play-off positions. Win their game in hand at Birmingham on Tuesday, and a play-off push that had looked like being over will have been successfully reignited.

Carrick’s decision to name an unchanged starting side meant Boro once again lined up with three centre-halves, with Ayling and Lukas Engel playing as wing-backs on their respective flanks.

Whereas the Teessiders had looked shaky in the opening stages of their midweek win over Norwich City, they were much more solid at Loftus Road, successfully dealing with QPR’s early balls into the box while offering a threat on the counter-attack at the other end.

Ilian Chair had the first opportunity of the afternoon, curling wide after cutting infield to the corner of the 18-yard box, but Boro might have threatened themselves shortly after had Riley McGree made a better contact when he attempted to flick Ayling’s cross goalwards after stealing ahead of his marker at the front post.

A closely-fought opening period saw neither side able to test the opposition goalkeeper, but that changed midway through the first half when Seny Dieng was finally called into action.

A sliding Clarke blocked Lucas Andersen’s effort, but the ball broke to Chris Willock and the forward’s curled effort would have found the bottom corner had Dieng not got down superbly to tip the ball around the post.

Boro’s goalkeeper moved to Teesside from QPR last summer, and he was involved again on the half-hour mark. Michael Frey sent Chair galloping into the inside-right channel, but Dieng tipped the Moroccan’s rising drive over the crossbar.

McGree fired a 20-yard drive wide of the left-hand post as Boro continued to press themselves before the break, but there was a nervy moment for the visitors on the hour mark.

QPR’s two second-half substitutes combined, with Isaac Hayden releasing Paul Smyth behind the Boro backline. Dieng forced the forward wide as he tried to round him, enabling a backtracking van den Berg to scramble the ball clear.

It proved a crucial intervention as, just four minutes later, Boro were celebrating claiming the lead.

A cross from the right-hand side passed all the way through the QPR penalty area, but Clarke did well to keep the ball alive at the back post. He picked out Latte Lath as he delivered another cross into the middle, and the striker made it two goals in two games as he volleyed into the bottom right-hand corner from 12 yards out.

Boro continued to attack after taking the lead, and were able to double their advantage with 14 minutes remaining.

The visitors’ second goal came courtesy of an excellent counter-attack that took them from one penalty area to the other. Howson was leading the charge, with the skipper teeing up Ayling down the right.

The full-back crossed to the back post, and Forss looped an excellent header beyond Begovic and into the far corner.