LONDON - French defender Franck Queudrue earned Middlesbrough a 1-0 Premiership victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday for their first away win since November to reignite their attempt to gain a place in Europe.
Queudrue's 35th-minute, headed winner came from a Stewart Downing corner after a fine save from Palace keeper Gabor Kiraly had denied the Frenchman moments earlier.
The result kickstarted Boro's season as they had only won seven points from their previous 10 fixtures before this match but it now gives them hope of gaining a UEFA Cup spot.
Relegation now seems a more worrying prospect for Palace.
Palace's Andy Johnson, who had been recovering from a foot injury, hit the post and also squandered other chances to get the home side back into the match.
Middlesbrough welcomed back Mark Viduka, Ray Parlour and George Boateng for the Selhurst Park clash and, for Palace, Johnson returned after missing out on the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan.
Midfielder Vassilis Lakis was back from suspension but was only able to earn a place on the bench.
Johnson missed a great chance to give Palace an early advantage after good work by Dougie Freedman but his attempt went wide of the left-hand upright.
Boro had bad news when Australian striker Viduka limped off in the 12th minute with a recurrence of a hamstring problem, and Szilard Nemeth came on as replacement.
Johnson then hit the right post after cutting in to set himself up for the opportunity in their best chance of the match.
The only goal came after Downing fired over a superb, outswinging corner from the left and Queudrue leapt to head home despite being surrounded by three defenders.
04/02/2005 16:33 GMT - AFP