Middlesbrough 3 - West Bromwich Albion 1

Date:	Saturday 29th August 2026
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
Middlesbrough: 6.0	(4-2-3-1) Vitek, Brittain, Ayling, Malanda, Neto Borges, Morris, Peart-Harris (Berhalter, 46), Whittaker (Jones, 69), McGree (Joseph, 69), Sarmiento (Arfsten, 40), Lankshear (Conway, 86) Unused subs: Brynn, Phillips, Strelec, Castledine
WBA: 5.9	(4-4-1-1) O'Leary 6.8, Galves 4.9, Phillips 6.4, Campbell 5.6, Styles 6.1, Whitwell 5.6 (Nzingoula, 70 6.1), Molumby 5.7 (Tunde, 77 6.1), Diakité 6.7, Price 6.6, Horn Myhre 5.0 (Heggebø, 77 4.9), Morgan 6.6 (Stewart, 86 4.8) Unused subs: Ingram, Mepham, Townsend, Bany, Williams Manager: James Morrison 5.8
Scorers:	Lankshear (48, 73), Jones (87); Morgan (65)
Referee:	Paul Tierney (Lancashire) 3.2
Attendance:	29,571 Home Fans 5.2 Away Fans 7.4

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Ratings submitted so far: 17

Brendan Clegg:

A slightly frustrating one as overall we played quite well and we had enough of the game to get something, but we ran out of gas, didn't have the quality up front and were a little unlucky with the offside goals.

The lineup made sense and I thought we were the better team in the first half - we played the better football and had more of it although I thought 'Borough had more attacking threat than us. It was mostly controlled although I thought the signs that we were getting a bit leggy were there even towards the end of the first half and we did need to hang on a little bit.

No changes at half time and we were behind before we could even get going - we started a bit slowly and they got both a fortunate bounce and a 'not even close' offside call in their favour. Of course it is ridiculous to say "Lankshear should get a 2 game ban" but it does make Heggebø's suspension look a total nonsense. I don't know anyone who wants VAR in the championship, we just want competent officials who catch the basics (Heggebø's was not in fairness) and for these things to naturally even out.

As it was, we responded really well, found some energy and our goal was really good - the whole move was really quite lovely football and Morgan showed again that he really does know how to header a ball; we should not be afraid of putting crosses into the box for this lad.

We didn't have the energy to keep going and some loose defending allowed Lankshear to get a second right after Rabbi had come on for Whitwell before he could settle - again we should have defended better and the ball could have gone anywhere but Lankshear, in fairness, showed what £15 million gets you.

Tunde and Heggebø came on to try and swing it back our way and we did have a few nearly moments but just as Stewart was the final roll of the dice Borough got a 3rd which again looked offside as the ball pinballed around our box, and that ended it.

It is something for us to look at - all 3 of their goals were similar, following up on initial chances much in the same way at least 2 of Newcastle's goals were. That needs addressing.

By contrast, we had very similar moments but our follow up shots were either blocked or, in one example from Price, walloped wildly over. That also needs addressing - with a quality striker signing.

I think you can make the case that Newcastle took a lot out of a few of them and had we not had that fixture, or had we rested even more players, we'd probably have done better. We were defeated but far from well beaten - we could have got something, in general we were still pretty good, it is clear that players new not just new to the team but the league are bedding in, and we do need 2 or 3 more signings. Overall still plenty to be positive about and you do get the feeling that Borough will be right up there.

O'Leary - 7 Another solid game
Galves - 6 They definitely targeted him after the break and, whichever combination we had down the right was one lacking in Championship experience so the help wasn't always there.
Phillips - 6 Unlucky with the offsides.. defended a lot.
Campbell - 6 Same as above, I think you could tell the legs were a bit tired.
Styles - 6 Generally okay, has been a little erratic and needs to settle.
Whitwell - 6 Lovely touches and movement at times, but looked leggy.
Diakite - 7 Again, influence waned the longer it went on.
Molumby - 6 Can't question the running or effort but this was one of those games where his quality was just not quite enough to match the kind of football we tried to play.
Price - 6 Another big shift and there was plenty of good but he was wasteful in the box in big moments.
The Horn - 5 Plenty of energy but I felt he struggled to influence it.
Morgan - 7 Great goal, kept running and battling... also looked tired.

Rabbi - 7 Looked decent once he got going but also not fully with it tactically yet
Tunde - 6 Good to get him blooded early... cautious but promising.
Heggebo - 6 Tried but I felt we needed someone with more pace
Stewart - Little time to do anything.

Wednesday night will be a big test - not least because Charlton are no mugs and also I wouldn't be surprised if there are outgoings as well as incomings.