Middlesbrough’s dominant run at the top of the EFL Championship table continued on Halloween.
Sebastian Berhalter scored his third goal of the season in Middlesbrough’s 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic on Saturday. Berhalter completed the full 90-minute shift while also recording his third assist.
It took just 12 minutes for Kim Hellberg’s men to take a 1-0 lead as Berhalter fired a shot into the bottom left corner. Berhalter created enough space for his shot, which gave Middlesbrough an early lead.
Will Lankshear finished Berhalter’s cross into the bottom corner as Middlesbrough doubled their lead before the break. Berhalter slipped a pass through the Charlton backline before watching Lankshear finish off his 12th goal of the campaign.
Lankshear ended Middlesbrough’s dominant performance by scoring his second goal of the day six minutes from time.
Berhalter created six chances in the match, drew two fouls, won four duels and made four defensive contributions.
American midfielder Aidan Morris also went the distance for Middlesbrough, while Max Arfsten played 12 minutes off the bench.
“I think it was a tough game, you could see from the beginning that they had a clear game plan,” Berhalter said. “They won a lot of second balls, batted well and are a tough team to play against, but I think we took the initiative in the first half and in the second half as well, but we saw the threat they posed. I think it was a professional win and well done.”
Middlesbrough are now eight matches unbeaten in a row in all competitions and face both Wrexham and Watford at home before the international break in November.
Jack McGlynn presents MOTM at Stoke City
Sebastian Berhalter isn’t the only American midfielder to enjoy a prolific start to life in the EFL Championship.
Jack McGlynn scored his third goal of the campaign as Stoke City beat Preston North End 2-0 on Saturday. The former MLS native also recorded an assist as the Potters stayed in the top half of the league table.
McGlynn’s magical left foot came into play again as the 23-year-old set up Ben Wilmot for Stoke City’s first-half opener. His cross into the box was headed in by Wilmot in the 28th minute to give Mark Robins’ men a 1-0 lead.
After playing distributor for Stoke’s opening goal, McGlynn added his tally seven minutes into the second half to seal a late victory for the hosts.
McGlynn’s left footed shot found the bottom right corner to give the Potters a 2-0 lead.
McGlynn would go the distance in Stoke’s victory, finishing with three tackles, eight defensive recoveries and a tackle.
Fellow American Luca Bombino played 73 minutes from the start and continued his positive start overseas.
The Robins praised McGlynn’s immediate impact in the squad after making the big move from MLS earlier in the summer.
“He’s a young man who has traveled halfway around the world to come and play in another country,” Robins said in an interview with the club after the match. “He’s a very talented player and we love having him and the way he works really hard and takes in information quickly and consumes it quickly, game by game you can see his development.
“Today I thought he was brilliant, instrumental, scored a goal and scored a goal, had opportunities, created bits and pieces, passing was excellent, found really good spaces on and off the ball, as his communication improves, he will improve overall.”
Seventh-placed Stoke City face Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth before the international break.