Middlesbrough duo Albert Adomah and Danny Graham were both on target in a very welcome 2-0 win at play-off searching Brighton.
Adomah broke the deadlock midway through the second-half and Graham settled it with four minutes remaining, but only after Leonardo Ulloa had blazed over a penalty.
David Lopez saw an early effort deflected wide for the home side while Ulloa drove straight at Dimi Konstantopoulos from the edge of the box.
But Luke Williams forced Tomasz Kuszczak to turn aside his reply and Lee Tomlin soon repeated the effort. The returning Grant Leadbitter then proved less of a threat with a low shot.
Boro blocked a couple of attempts at the other end while Jesse Lingard curled wide after the break and Konstantopoulos denied Jake Forster-Caskey.
The visitors forged in front on 65 minutes when Graham showed determination and crossed for Adomah to register his twelfth goal of the campaign.
Kazenga Lua Lua soon had a header claimed by Boro keeper Konstantopoulos, until Solly March was adjudged to have been brought down by George Friend and Ulloa struck his penalty well wide.
That miss proved even more costly as Leadbitter allowed Graham a low finish across Kuszczak before his opposite number Konstantopoulos kept out Lingard.
Brighton: Kuszczak, Bruno, Ward, Andrews, Greer, Upson, Ince (March 73), D. López (Lua Lua 59), Ulloa, Buckley (Forster-Caskey 33), Lingard
subs (unused): Dunk, Rodríguez Sánchez, Calderón, Ankergren
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Varga, Omeruo (Chalobah 79), Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter, Whitehead, L. Williams, Adomah (Ledesma 87), Tomlin (Butterfield 60), Graham
subs (unused): Steele, Morris, Kamara, Atkinson
Goals: Adomah (65), Graham (86)
Ref: G. Scott
Att: 27,486
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