Middlesbrough 4-0 Preston

Middlesbrough inflicted further misery on 10-man Preston at Riverside to move within three points of Sky Bet Championship leaders Coventry.

Alan Brown, who played more than 400 games in 10 years for North End from 2014 to 2024, returned to his old club to put Boro ahead, with Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker exploiting gaps in the defense to give Boro a three-goal lead by half-time.

Jordan Storey received a red card shortly after the restart and Conway scored to give second-placed Middlesbrough a 4-0 win. A fourth successive league win has put Frank Lampard’s Coventry in the lurch as they travel to struggling Norwich on Monday.

Meanwhile, Preston, who are chasing the play-offs, have lost four consecutive games in all competitions and have doubts about their backline after conceding seven goals in the past two games.

The team got off to a good start on Teeside, with an appeal for a penalty rejected when Matt Targett intercepted Storey’s header with his upper body, but things leveled out after Middlesbrough took the lead in the ninth minute.

Target’s exquisite cross saw Brown shake off Jamal Lewis, who had fallen to the floor, and the on-loan Sunderland midfielder controlled the ball superbly with his right foot before calmly finishing with his left.

Brown missed a chance to double his and Middlesbrough’s tally by missing Jack Walton’s far post, but Preston were caught up again in the 28th minute and Conway pounced perfectly.

A speculative curling pass forward from Luke Ayling was caught by Conway, with Storey and Odell Offiah trailing behind him, and the ball went through Walton’s legs and into the net.

Preston faltered and a worst-case scenario followed as Walton rolled the ball to Lewis Gibson on the edge of the box, but Whittaker recovered the ball. Whittaker scored his 11th goal of the season in the 42nd minute.

Any hopes of a second half comeback disappeared five minutes after the restart. Storey was sent off for staggering on the ball, blocking Conway’s run in front of goal, and dragging Conway down.

Conway were quickest to react to Hayden Hackney’s free-kick in the 54th minute and were not to be denied as Walton made a save and converted the rebound just as Preston were about to collapse completely.

They held out for over half an hour but were unable to test Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Bryn. It has been 380 minutes since Preston’s last goal.

Bolo attacks 4 times and crushes Preston.

managers

Kim Helberg of Middlesbrough:

“Of course we are looking at the table, but we need to maintain our performance. We need to prepare the team and develop, so we don’t need to focus too much on the table.

“We need to get better and that’s the important thing. We always try to get better. We never stop trying to be better the next day than we were the day before.”

“(Conway’s) work rate is unbelievable. He even got a red card in the press. I’ve always seen him as a top player.”

“As a striker you also need to score goals and that’s what he’s doing right now. He’s a top striker and a top person and I’m very happy for him. There’s no one who deserves it more.”

Mr Paul Heckingbottom of Preston:

“Every goal is a mistake. You can never win a game by conceding goals like that.

“We gave Boro the game and they are a good team. It would have been difficult enough if we didn’t do that. But it’s unacceptable to come to a place like this and just because they’re a good team we turn over.”

“We can play to that level. Our challenge is to put together a group that can do that in 46 games.”