Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Middlesbrough and Preston North End at the Riverside Stadium on Tuesday | Isaiah Jones scores twice in comfortable Boro win
Tuesday 28 November 2023 22:54, UK
Isaiah Jones ended a run of seven matches without a goal by scoring twice to help Middlesbrough to a 4-0 win over Preston at the Riverside.
North End looked like a team that has won just two of their last 11 matches rather than one that started the night sixth in the Sky Bet Championship, as Middlesbrough cruised into a three-goal lead at the break.
Jones' fourth and fifth goals of the season in the 16th and 37th minutes sandwiched Rav van den Berg's first senior goal in the 26th minute to put Michael Carrick's side well on track for their biggest home win of the season so far.
And deep in stoppage-time summer signing Alex Bangura cut inside his man to curl in the fourth to cap a miserable night for the visitors.
Despite losing Dael Fry at the heart of the defence, Boro were untroubled largely throughout the first half. The man who replaced him in the middle did the job at both ends.
Van den Berg, who has played right-back following his arrival from FC Zwolle, had been largely untested but was a calming influence on the ball in the opening exchanges.
That helped to lay the foundations for the opener. His central defensive partner Paddy McNair was involved in the move along with Jonny Howson and Dan Barlaser before Matt Crooks received possession 22 yards from goal. Rather than shoot, Crooks rolled a pass into the path of Jones for him to control and finish calmly at a time when the game was in need of some goalmouth quality.
It was 2-0 10 minutes later. Van den Berg coasted in at the back to meet Barlaser's corner and, despite failing to head, the ball bounced off the defender's chest and beat goalkeeper Freddie Woodman once more.
After a couple of tame Preston attempts to close the deficit, Middlesbrough extended their advantage eight minutes before half-time.
This time Morgan Rogers played in Jones and the winger lifted a lovely finish above and beyond Woodman.
Woodman had to make two big saves before the break to prevent Jones from grabbing a first half hat-trick and stop Rogers finding the target.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe's frustrations were clear. He took Milutin Osmajic and Will Keane off and replaced them with Ched Evans and Calvin Ramsey at the start of the second half in a bid to make a fight of it.
But Boro, who climb to ninth with this victory, forced Woodman into another strong save to his left after a good move created an opening for Rogers.
The keeper also saved from Emmanuel Latte Lath before Bangura completed the scoring in the fourth minute of added time to wrap up a routine win for Boro.
Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick:
"We were ruthless, we created and defended very well in terms of limiting them. It was a new back four who hadn't played together before, they played well. We will definitely take 4-0. I can't fault the boys, sometimes it will work and sometimes it might go against us. I was confident going into the game, there was good balance even if it was quite new in terms of the changes. I thought we were in good shape and that proved to be the case.
"We lost Dael Fry and Hayden Hackney (groin and hamstring injuries) from Saturday, it tends to be the way we are going. We had eight senior players out tonight. That's why the squad is vital and we can't make excuses. The boys cracked on and we are now preparing for Saturday."
Preston's Ryan Lowe:
"I'm angry, disappointed, but they are my group of players, win, lose or draw. There were harsh words in the dressing room. They have given us some fantastic football, but when we went one down there was fear that set in. The first half performance was nowhere near the levels we expect. If we want to keep being a mid-table team those are mid-table performances, but we don't want to be that team. The lads know that the first half was nowhere near the levels we require.
"We came here with full belief we could challenge. Boro are not the formidable side from last season, even though they still have good players and a fantastic coach, but I expect us to be better. I will stick with the players. They know it is not good enough. We have let everyone down and what we have to do now is put it right as quickly as we can. I will give them the benefit of the doubt tonight, but if we don't get it right then we will flip it around because we want to keep progressing. The first 45 minutes was not acceptable."
