MIDDLESBROUGH’S patience was finally rewarded when they grabbed three second half goals to overcome a defensively-minded Charlton Athletic at the Riverside Stadium.

Charlton, under interim boss Karel Fraeye for the first time, showed hardly ambition to find the net after making the long trip to Teesside but had kept Boro’s advances at bay for almost an hour.

But Middlesbrough, looking to win to keep up the pace with the three teams above them, cruised to a comfortable victory after David Nugent’s fourth league goal since arriving from Leicester in the 60th minute.

Six minutes later Albert Adomah powered in a second before Daniel Ayala’s last touch, before he was rested, was to head in Stewart Downing’s delivery to make it three 12 minutes before the end.

It was easy to see why Charlton, deep in relegation trouble already, are in the mess they are in throughout the 90 minutes but Middlesbrough still had to wait for the breakthrough.

And it was a good job they did as Hull and Burnley – two sides above them – both won so all of those closed the gap on leaders Brighton, who could only draw at Reading. Middlesbrough are three points off top spot ahead of Tuesday’s visit of Rotherham.

After the euphoria surrounding the events at Old Trafford in midweek, it was always going to be a test of character to see how Middlesbrough responded.

But Charlton, winless in nine games beforehand, were not set up to cause problems in an attacking sense and it was more a case of seeing if the red shirts could come up with a way to breakdown the two banks of purple in front of goalkeeper Stephen Henderson.

Karanka made changes to freshen things up, with Bruno Zuculini handed a first start following his loan from Manchester City and he replaced the rested Grant Leadbitter in the middle. Zuculini worked well with Adam Clayton.

There were also recalls for Dimi Konstantopoulos, Fernando Amorebieta, Adomah, Diego Fabbrini and Nugent, while Downing was named captain in the absence of Leadbitter and Friend.

Downing had a couple of early efforts on goal, while Nugent rolled an effort in to the arms of Henderson as Middlesbrough threatened to score the first half goal which would have put them on course for a routine victory.

Charlton were happy to allow Middlesbrough to have the ball and in the opening half alone Middlesbrough had enjoyed 80 per cent of the possession, with the best effort being a Fabbrini drive from the edge of the box which was turned behind by Henderson.

While Charlton were awful to watch, they did keep a clean sheet for 45 minutes – even though Amorebieta should have hit the target from Downing’s ball in to the box seconds before the whistle.

Amoerbieta also had the best chance of the second half, when his marauding run was rewarded with an opportunity to strike on goal and Henderson blocked before holding Adomah’s header from the rebound.

Downing had an effort deflect in to the side netting but then, finally, just before the hour, the breakthrough finally arrived. Clayton’s cross was knocked down by Fabbrini and Nugent controlled before finishing beyond Henderson.

In the 66th minute Adomah added to the scoreline when he cut inside from the right. When his left foot shot took a deflection it helped the ball fly in to the top left hand corner of the net.

After that Charlton, who only registered one shot on target all afternoon when Reza Ghoochannejhad tested Dimi Konstantopoulos, had no chance and Middlesbrough could have had more than the three.

The third was a fine header from Ayala when he was afforded far too much space in the box to glance Downing’s delivery inside the far corner to make it back-to-back wins in the league for Boro after their previous stutter.

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-2-3-1): Konstantopoulos; Nsue, Ayala (Stephens 79), Gibson, Amorebieta; Clayton, Zuculini; Adomah, Fabbrini (Kike 82), Downing; (De Pena 79) Nugent. Subs: Mejias (gk), Friend, Leadbitter, Kalas.

CHARLTON (4-1-4-1): Henderson; Solly, Bauer, Diarra, Fox; Ba (Ghoochannejhad 69); Ahearne-Grant (Moussa 79), Jackson, Cousins, Gudmundsson; Makienok (Watt 61). Subs: Pope, Sarr, Bergdich, McAleny.