Goals:

0-1: Besic (11, picked up the rebound after his initial shot was blocked by Chalobah, and slotted a low finish into the left-hand corner)

0-2: Downing (16, picked up a loose ball and advanced towards the area before firing home via a deflection off Nsiala)

Referee: Andrew Madley (Ossett) – Kept his cards in his pocket, but was always in control of what was going on 6

Attendance: 13,612

Entertainment: ***


IPSWICH (4-4-2):

Gerken 5; Donacien 4, Chambers 4, Nsiala 3, Knudsen 5; Graham 4 (Edwards 46, 5), Skuse 5, Nolan 4 (Dozzell 76), CHALOBAH 6; Ward 4, Jackson 4 (Sears 46, 5).

Subs (not used): Bialkowski (gk), Spence, Downes, Edun.


MIDDLESBROUGH (4-3-3):

7 Randolph: Didn’t have a lot to do, but got down superbly in the second half to claw Chalobah’s shot around the post

7 Shotton: Rock solid once again as Boro reverted to a flat back four, with his physical strength proving a major asset

8 Flint: Another hugely impressive defensive showing from the centre-half, who already looks like a steal for £6.5m

8 Ayala: Dominated at the heart of the back four, and would have scored had Skuse not nodded his header off the line

7 Friend: Completely untroubled in terms of his defending, and twice came close with decent efforts in the Ipswich box

8 BESIC: Controlled things at the heart of midfield and fired home a fine finish to claim the first goal of his second spell in a Boro shirt

7 Saville: Filled the Clayton role at the base of midfield, but was much keener to initiate attacks than the player he replaced

8 Howson: Gelled superbly with Besic, especially in the first half, and delivered a number of dangerous set-pieces

7 Braithwaite: Drifted between the lines to positive effect, especially in the first half, and repeatedly pulled the Ipswich defence around

6 Hugill: Led the line effectively for more than an hour, and came close with a second-half effort that whistled just past the post

7 Downing: Claimed his second goal of the season as he cut in from the right-hand side and fully justified his return to the starting line-up


Subs:

6 Assombalonga (for Hugill, 65): The game was effectively settled when he came on, but he still stretched the Ipswich defence on a couple of occasions

6 McNair (for Braithwaite, 69): Was brought on to shore things up and was solid enough on the right-hand side 

McQueen (for Besic, 82)

(not used): Lonergan (gk), Fry, Batth, Gestede.


Man Of The Match: MO BESIC – The Everton loanee highlighted why Tony Pulis was so desperate to re-sign him this summer – he oozed class throughout.