Manchester City - 0 Middlesbrough - 1 It was Bobby Charlton who first referred to Old Trafford as the Theatre of Dreams and, four decades later, a second Manchester United legend may have coined another lasting term.

Apparently, Alex Ferguson calls the City of Manchester Stadium the Temple of Doom, which might not be the greatest act of neighbourly goodwill but, for now, seems pretty apt.

This was City's third defeat at their new ground and, fresh from going out of the UEFA Cup, Kevin Keegan's players left the pitch to voluble disapproval. Keegan was surprisingly upbeat but this was a galling result, coming against an unimaginative Middlesbrough side who did not manage one shot on target.

City being City, that statistic did not have a bearing because of the self-inflicted damage that occurred half an hour into an opening period in which Middlesbrough had otherwise been camped inside their own half.

Sun Jihai has to accept culpability, having turned in Gaizka Mendieta's low centre for a soft own-goal. However, an equal proportion of blame must be attached to Ireland's Richard Dunne, who had the first chance to clear only to allow the ball to go under his studs.

Ultimately, though, Middlesbrough were grateful for their hosts' wastefulness. Nicolas Anelka, Paulo Wanchope and the otherwise outstanding Shaun Wright-Phillips all missed good chances. Robbie Fowler was introduced midway through the second half and promptly wasted City's best opportunity of that period. In the final moments he also volleyed over from an unmarked position.

Middlesbrough, meanwhile, had made their intentions clear by replacing Michael Ricketts with a centre-half, Chris Riggott.

It is a pity that with the likes of Mendieta and Juninho they cannot be more aesthetic but, with five clean sheets in succession, they have established a club record, beating the previous best set in 1975.

More importantly, Middlesbrough now climb into the top half of the Premiership for the first time this season.