West Brom 3-0 Middlesbrough: Convincing win for Albion over fellow cellar-dwellers Boro

If West Brom survive the closest relegation battle the Premier League has witnessed, manager Tony Mowbray will look back on the day when two deflections contributed massively to a vital win.

If Middlesbrough fail to make the cut when the music stops in the most expensive game of musical chairs in the world, manager Gareth Southgate will doubtless reflect on the same game when all the bad luck that was going came his way.

"The ball ran for us, no question about it," said Mowbray, as honest a manager as he was as a craggy, no-nonsense central defender on Teesside.

"Middlesbrough have good players, quality players all over the field. To lose by that margin was harsh, but we have had many a game when we have played well and got nothing."

Albion are now off the bottom of the table, although the reprieve may only be temporary if Tottenham, who replaced them, beat Portsmouth at White Hart Lane this afternoon.

But Mowbray may want to break the habit of a lifetime and stake a small wager on his spirited side avoiding the drop that, pre-Christmas, looked inevitable.

"I have never had a bet in my life, so I don't know about bookies or odds," he said. "But nobody here was saying that we would go down."

Southgate's frustration was evident and he said: "Huge decisions went against us."

He believed Chris Brunt was offside when he scored Abion's opener and will ask referee Mark Halsey to review the red card he showed Didier Digard for a 61st-minute tackle on Borja Valero.

"It was a quick decision," said Southgate. "But the tackle was not two-footed and Didier won the ball."

Southgate then pinpointed the frailties that led to an extension of Boro's horrendous run of 10 league games without a win. "Quite simply, we didn't do well enough in both penalty areas," he said.

Albion got their dream start after just four minutes. Robert Koren's deep cross was destined for Brunt, who was clearly offside.

But Tony McMahon's attempted clearance fell to the Albion man, whose shot deflected off the hapless Boro defender into the net.

The Baggies' second, after 54th minutes had an equal slice of good fortune - with "fortune" the operative word.

Debutant Marc-Antoine Fortune, on loan for the season from Nancy, set up Koren whose mishit shot cannoned off Fortune and sent keeper Ross Turnbull the wrong way.

Then came Digard's red card, Albion's third goal from Koren, who ran on to Brunt's pass, and Southgate's red mist.