Middlesbrough's surge up the table was brought to an abrupt halt by Alex Neil's resurgent Stoke.
Michael Carrick's side had won six on the trot to rise into the promotion reckoning, but first- half goals from Michael Rose and Mehdi Leris silenced the home fans at the Riverside Stadium.
The win made it a hat-trick of Stoke victories against promotion hopefuls in a week, after they saw off Leeds last weekend and Sunderland on Wednesday.
Injury-hit Boro failed to hit the form that had taken them up to ninth place, and Stoke took full advantage to continue their own journey from the fringes of the relegation zone to 11th spot within sight of the top six.