Middlesbro - 1 Southampton - 3: There is a lot of building work going on around this ground and Middlesbrough have plans for a "Boro Brick Road". In that context it was fortunate Southampton were the visitors yesterday because they were able to show Middlesbrough how to lay a path.
Courtesy of the 6ft 7in construction that is Peter Crouch, Southampton won their first away game of the season and the three points provided them with a route out of the bottom three for the first time since November.
Southampton are now a point above Crystal Palace and the two meet on the penultimate weekend of the season at Selhurst Park. That promises to be an occasion although Southampton may have preserved their 27-year top-flight status by then. Fulham, three points above them, and Portsmouth, four, are now in the Saints' sights. Fratton Park is another place Southampton have to visit. That should be interesting for Harry Redknapp and Jim Smith.
Smith, addressing the press rather than Redknapp, said: "We knew that if we didn't get an away win we wouldn't stay up. With us here, Palace at Chelsea, West Brom at Charlton and Norwich at Bolton we thought this could be a defining weekend. This is massively important."
Smith and Redknapp's short time at Southampton began against Middlesbrough a fortnight before Christmas. Southampton were two goals up only for Middlesbrough to score twice in injury time.
There was never any suggestion yesterday of a repeat once Crouch had volleyed in his second and Southampton's third with almost 25 minutes remaining. Smith is clearly unsurprised by England talk regarding Crouch. Given Sven-Goran Eriksson is understood to have inquired as to Quinn's nationality early on in his England tenure, Crouch may well be in the Swede's thoughts.
When England meet up tomorrow Steve McClaren will be able to supply Eriksson with any information he needs. "He was a handful for us," McClaren said. McClaren will be able to tell Eriksson how Crouch towered above Gareth Southgate on the hour to place a fine header past Mark Schwarzer.
Six minutes later Crouch then peeled away from Southgate as Graeme Le Saux steadied himself to flight a ball to the far post. Crouch had made the room, now he displayed composure to steer a lovely volley past Schwarzer.
Middlesbrough's Joseph-Desire Job managed to bring a fingertip save from Antti Niemi on 75 minutes. But that aside Middlesbrough looked a team bereft of imagination and physical energy. Even when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink equalised Andreas Jakobsson's opener there was no sense that Middlesbrough would take over.
