London, December 19:

Brian McBride and Heidar Helguson scored first-half goals and Fulham beat struggling Middlesbrough 2-1 in the English Premier League on Monday.

Helguson converted a penalty in the 12th minute after George Boateng brought down Moritz Volz. McBride doubled the lead in the 35th with a shot that deflected off Middlesbrough defender Chris Riggott for his fifth goal of this season. Middlesbrough pulled back a goal in the 74th when Mark Viduka capitalized on a poor goal kick from Fulham goalkeeper Antti Niemi.

“It was a game we needed to win tonight. I said to the guys, ‘Don’t be nervous, it’s not a relegation battle,”’ Fulham manager Chris Coleman said. “Tonight was a really big game — a tough game — but I’m delighted with the lads. The attitude was much better than it has been in the last few games.”

Fulham improved to 23 points and 11th place, while Middlesbrough remained in 17th with 17 points, putting pressure on manager Gareth Southgate, who is in his first season as a manager after retiring as a player at Boro in May. Middlesbrough now hasn’t won in six league games.

“We never gave up and I thought we deserved something from the game, but you can’t give teams a goal start never mind a two-goal start,” Southgate said. “I thought we caused them a lot of problems, but I can’t ask for any more commitment from my players.” Manchester United leads the league with 44 points, followed by Chelsea with 42.