Stewart Downing re-joined his hometown club this summer from West Ham for £5.5m
Stewart Downing scored his first goal for Middlesbrough since returning to the Riverside Stadium in the summer to help his side beat MK Dons.
The winger, who rejoined Boro from West Ham, superbly curled a shot from the right into the corner midway through the second half.
David Nugent then got his first Boro goal to wrap up the win when he finished a one-on-one chance.
The Dons' best chance came at 0-0 when Simon Church's chip hit the post.
Home sweet home
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Middlesbrough have won nine of their last 11 home league (including play-off) games. |
Until Downing's opener, Karl Robinson's side, who were playing their first competitive match against Middlesbrough, had defended stoutly.
They restricted the hosts to mostly long-range efforts in the first half, before Wales international Church was unlucky to see his chip over Dimi Konstantopolous come back off the upright, following great build-up work from Jordan Spence.
But Middlesbrough, who left winger Albert Adomah out of their matchday squad after a reported transfer request in the transfer window, took the lead when Downing cut inside from the right and, with defenders backing off, bent in past David Martin.
Downing said the chance to win promotion for his hometown club was behind his move down from the Premier League.
And he set up another man who moved down a division in the summer, Nugent, when he headed on for the former Leicester striker to keep his cool and slot home.
MK Dons rarely threatened after that, but Rob Hall did skim the post with an injury-time strike.