Aliadiere twice went close, forcing a fine blocked save from Carroll and then heading narrowly wide.
And two minutes later Jeremie Aliadiere had his shot saved by Taylor after Sol Campbell's neat through-ball.
BBC: SPORT | Football | Premiership | Birmingham 2-1 Arsenal
Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, back after missing Thursday's Uefa Cup tie, had to react quickly to block Aliadiere with 20 minutes to go.
In the closing stages of that opening half Arsenal's patient passing game began to bear fruit as Aliadiere and Fabregas drew saves from Howard.
Boro continued to threaten on the break, with Aliadiere and Tuncay offering plenty of pace and promise, but lacked a final ball of quality and precision.
Their hopes of salvaging a point came to nothing disappeared when former Hull player King sidefooted home Boro's third after Jeremie Aliadiere had caught George Boateng in possession.
And it was not long before the curse of Southgate struck the Gunners again when former player Aliadiere guided Tuncay's half-volleyed cross from the left high into the Arsenal net.
Aliadiere, making his comeback from an ankle injury, chased a long ball into the box, and went down under a challenge from Morgan, prompting Boro's appeals for a penalty, but D'Urso gave a goal-kick.
Just before the hour Aliadiere missed a good chance to score his first league goal since August 2002 when he sent the ball over the bar after good work by Justin Hoyte and Tomas Rosicky.
And, despite the early threat of Craig Bellamy, the writing was on the wall from the moment Aliadiere tapped home the opener, finishing at the second attempt after showing fine skill to pull down Toure's long pass.
Aided by a pulsating public address system, the home fans generated a lively atmosphere in the build-up to the match, but it was Boro who had the first chance when Jeremie Aliadiere fired straight at Maik Taylor.
Song Billong made it 3-1 from close range after benefiting from a ricochet off Hyypia and then Aliadiere was controversially ruled onside before pulling back to Baptista, who slid into an empty net to cap a remarkable end to the half.
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