Republic of Ireland international Alan Browne was among the scorers Middlesbrough ended a four-game goal drought in style to move back into the Sky Bet Championship's top two after hammering Southampton 4-0 at the Riverside Stadium.
Boro, who had dropped out of the automatic promotion places after failing to win any of their previous four matches, recaptured their spark after the restart to leave Southampton winless in six matches.
The Saints would have been ahead had it not been for two fantastic blocks from Boro new boy Adilson Malanda, and Kim Hellberg's side capitalised after that.
Morgan Whittaker scored either side of Sam Silvera's clinical 61st-minute strike to wrap up a Middlesbrough win with three goals inside 12 second-half minutes.
And substitute Browne, whose last Ireland cap came against Greece in September 2024, added the fourth having come on as an early replacement for the injured Alex Bangura.
The Corkman's goal came with 14 minutes remaining as he tapped in from close range after fellow Boys in Green international Gavin Bazunu could only turn Hayden Hackney's effort into his path.
The win moved Middlesbrough two points clear of third-placed Ipswich. They have also closed the gap to leaders Coventry to six points after Frank Lampard's top-of-the-table side lost 3-2 at Birmingham.
Marvin Ducksch scored twice for Birmingham as they ended their seven-game winless streak with the former Germany international grabbing a goal in each half as fortunes ebbed and flowed in a derby fixture that delivered drama from the first whistle until stoppage time when Sky Blues defender Bobby Thomas was dismissed.
Birmingham led three times but were pegged back twice by Lampard's side, who have now won just twice in their last eight outings.
Goals in each half from Lewis Dobbin and Alfie Devine saw Preston cement their spot in the play-off places with a 2-0 victory over fellow contenders Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Caleb Taylor's header in the second minute of stoppage time lifted Millwall level on points with Preston as they defeated Swansea 2-1 at The Den.
For most of the afternoon, the Lions were frustrated by a stunning display by Swansea goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux as he made a string of superb saves, while a goal from Ben Cabango cancelled out Mihailo Ivanovic’s opener for the hosts.
But Taylor’s second goal of the season was enough to lift Alex Neil’s side two places to fifth in the table, three points behind second-placed Middlesbrough.
Stoke made it back-to-back away wins without conceding a goal as they recorded an impressive 2-0 victory at Norwich.
The visitors followed up their impressive 1-0 success at Hull with a dominant display at Carrow Road, with late goals from Sam Gallagher and Sorba Thomas earning them the points.
A superb strike from Matty James gave Wrexham a 2-1 victory at Derby, firing in from outside the area early in the second half to give his side a fourth win in a row and strengthen their play off challenge.
Sam Smith had put the Welsh club ahead but the Rams hit back through Ben Brereton-Diaz, only for James to settle an entertaining game with a quality finish.
Rayan Kolli scored two late goals for QPR in a 3-0 victory at home to strugglers Sheffield Wednesday.
Rumarn Burrell's 10th goal of the season put the R’s ahead and Kolli’s double sealed their first win in four matches.
Moussa Baradji scored his first Blackburn goals as his brace helped Rovers hit back from two down to snatch an entertaining 2-2 draw with fellow strugglers Charlton.
Winless in four games and without a goal in three, Blackburn looked set to slip deeper into relegation trouble when a quickfire Charlie Kelman double, a close-range volley in the 28th minute and a controversial penalty six minutes later, put the visitors in command.
But the beleaguered hosts displayed plenty of character and on-loan midfielder Baradji halved the deficit before half-time with a thumping header before slotting home a deserved equaliser 13 minutes from time.
The point moved Valerien Ismael's side four clear of the drop zone. Charlton are winless in four but remain a place and a point above Rovers.
Meanwhile, a number of fixtures were postponed. Sheffield United's meeting with Oxford and Portsmouth's clash with Ipswich were among a host of Sunday's soccer matches that did not go ahead due to frozen pitches.
The Blades said the match referee called off their fixture after a pitch inspection at Bramall Lane due to concerns over player safety.
Pompey's Fratton Park was also deemed unplayable after an 11am inspection.
