Mddlesbrough 2 Charlton 0

CHARLTON failed to give their long suffering supporters any festive cheer with a ninth defeat in 10 games on Saturday at the Riverside.

"We lost the game through basic errors," said the Addicks under-fire boss Les Reed. "Things that should not have happened did happen and yet again I'm left very disappointed.

"We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and though we had a little flurry at the end, it was too little, too late."

Fellow strugglers Middlesbrough, who had not won in six before the match, took a 29th minute lead when Yakubu took advantage of poor defending to score a simple goal after Radostin Kishishev lost the ball on the halfway line.

Julio Arca's first goal for the club in the 52nd minute sealed victory against a dejected Charlton.

Bryan Hughes went closest for the Addicks in the 85th minute with a shot that Emanuel Pogatetz cleared off the line.

Attendance: 32,013