Coming off the back of a draw at home, Boro faced Birmingham away for their last match before the three-week international break.
As the whistle blew at St. Andrew’s, both sides had a few chances to take an early lead inside the first 10 minutes, with attempts by Cozier-Duberry, Lankshear and Mcgree, and Birmingham’s Solís and Millar.
In the 18th minute, Birmingham’s Vázquez had the best chance to put his side into the lead with a header from the centre of the box, however it was tipped over the crossbar by Vitek for the first corner of the afternoon.
From the corner, Birmingham’s Neumann just missed to the left after his header went wide for a Boro goal kick.
Boro then had two attempts blocked in the 19th minute; the first attempt was by Arfsten and the second by Morris.
The first yellow card of the afternoon was shown to Birmingham’s Vázquez for a foul on Ayling in the 24th minute.
Shortly after, in the 27th minute, Boro got their first corner of the afternoon, however nothing came from it.
Another attempt from Birmingham’s Millar was saved in the centre of the goal by Vitek in the 33rd minute.
Just three minutes after Birmingham’s attempt, Cozier-Duberry had the chance to put the Teessiders in front, however his shot from the centre of the box went a bit too high and straight over the crossbar.
As the first half was nearing an end, Boro had a few more chances to take the lead, however it looked as if it was going to be a goalless first half for both sides at St. Andrew’s.
This all changed in the 45th minute as Arfsten managed to get his first Boro goal with a right footed shot from the centre of the box into the top left corner.
The away end erupted as the Teessiders went into half time with a 0-1 lead.
As the second half started, Boro started to struggle as Birmingham came out strong and kept them on the back foot.
Birmingham had three attempts in eight minutes to get their equaliser, but they narrowly missed out each time.
Birmingham continued to fight, and it paid off in the 55th minute as Millar had a shot from the left side of the box into the bottom left corner.
Boro continued to stay on the back foot as just four minutes after Birmingham’s goal, an own goal by Mcgree gave Birmingham the lead and made it 2-1.
To try and turn the game around, Boro made the first substitutions of the afternoon in the 63rd bringing Conway on for Peart-Harris and Berhalter on for Mcgree.
Despite the substitutions the Teessiders still struggled and were yet to have a shot in the second half.
In the 71st minute, Birmingham made their first substitution, bringing Ducksch on for Vázquez.
More substitutions were made for both sides between the 74th and 86th minutes, with Sarmiento coming on for Cozier-Duberry, Borges coming on for Arfsten, Joseph coming on for Phillips, and Birmingham’s Seung-Ho coming on for Stansfield.
After these substitutions, Boro finally had attempts to get an equaliser; however, they had no luck and the score remained 2-1.
It was looking unlikely that the Teessiders would take a point from the match, due to their rocky second half.
However, after a Boro free kick, Birmingham’s goalkeeper, Beadle, spilt the ball in front of Joseph, who managed to pass it to Malanda, getting his first Boro goal in the 88th minute.
The away end erupted again as the ball hit the back of the net, with many different chants sounding out around St. Andrew’s from the away end.
The fourth official announced four minutes of added time shortly after Boro’s late equaliser.
Boro had the final attempt of the afternoon to see if they could take away all three points; however, it just missed to the right.
The final whistle blew, and along with that the Teessiders came away with a point to keep them 3rd in the Championship heading into the international break.
