Woeful Wanderers swept aside as Lankshear brace fires Boro top of the Championship
By Charlie Courtney / @charliec_journo
Middlesborough fired themselves top of the championship after a convincing 5-1 victory away at Bolton with championship top scorer Will Lankshear scoring a brace to take his tally for the season to 13 as the Teesiders extend their unbeaten run in the league to 10 games.
The game would also see a happy return to the Toughsheet Community stadium for Amario Cozier-Duberry as the former Bolton young player of the year would grab himself a goal and assist against the club where he hit double figures in goals and assists last year.
The first big chance of the game would fall to the home side however as Ruben Rodrigues beat the Boro offside trap and found himself 1 on 1 with Vitek, but a poor strike was easily saved and 26 second later, he would be punished as Middlesborough took the ball up the other end and a Cozier-Duberry cutback would be tapped home by an unmarked Morris from 6 yards out.
After some big saves from Wanderers ‘keeper Bazunu, Boro would find their second after some delicate play and an incisive McGree pass would find Conway who squared the ball for Lankshear to tap home for his first of the evening.
The lead would soon be extended to three after a contentious corner went in the visitors favour and after some dangerous deliveries, they would get their just deserts as Malanda’s header would deflect off Lewis Brunt to see the division’s frontrunners 3-0 ahead within 40 minutes.
Boro’s defensive frailties would continue however, as on the stroke of half time Bolton striker Thelonius Bair, who started over top scorer Sam Dalby, would finish under the keeper to open up hopes of a second half comeback following a first 45 where they conceded a division leading 20 shots.
Wanderers’ talisman Dalby would come on at half time as they began pressing higher and chasing the game and this would see the game open up with Bazunu called into action pulling out more excellent saves Boro’s quality would then shine through as they hit Bolton on the counterattack and
Cozier-Duberry would finish emphatically to take the visitors out of sight with a 4-1 lead in the 73rd minute.
Lankshear then put the icing on the performance as he tapped in for his second following an incisive pass from Brittain which saw Mcgree unselfishly square for his second assist as Lankshear finished into an empty net.
The result sees Middlesborough hit the top ahead of the weekends fixtures with their next fixture at home to struggling Charlton who are winless in 5 as manager Hellberg believes that there is ‘More to come’ from his side.
The result marks Bolton’s heaviest home defeat since January 2025 where they lost to Charlton by the same margin in League One.
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