The Football Pink

In March, Charlton came to the Riverside, sat deep and won 1-0. A crowd of 29,831 turned up to see whether the leaders had learned how to break a low block. They had, and Will Lankshear was the reason.

Kim Hellberg named the same XI that won 5-1 at Bolton last Friday. Nathan Jones made five changes after Charlton's home defeat by Norwich, handing Harvey Knibbs his first start of the season, and picked a big side built to defend and attack set-pieces. It lasted 12 minutes.

Charlton were already living dangerously. Tyler Bindon was booked inside ten minutes for a cynical foul on Aidan Morris. Then Amario Cozier-Duberry worked the ball to Sebastian Berhalter outside the box, and the American's right-footed shot found the bottom left corner.

Charlton had their moments

To their credit, the Addicks didn't fold. Joe Rankin-Costello tried to poke one in from close range and Radek Vitek kept it out. Miles Leaburn got on the end of one of Bindon's long throws and headed wide. For half an hour there was a nervousness about the place.

Arthur Okonkwo saved low from Morris. Then, a minute before the break, Berhalter turned provider. His angled ball bisected the Charlton defence, and Lankshear, with all the assurance of a striker in a purple patch, dinked it over the onrushing Okonkwo.

Will Lankshear takes it on his left foot and he's just deadly in front of goal. I see improvement in him every week.

Neil Maddison, former Middlesbrough midfielder, on BBC Radio Tees

That made it 12 league goals for the season. By then he had also scored in five games running.

Scrappy, then spectacular

The second half was a grind. Charlton lost Kayne Ramsay to a first-half knock and brought on Dan McNamara at the break, then Karlan Grant and Tyreece Campbell, and they won free-kicks and corners. Charlie Kelman headed over from Campbell's cross. Billy Koumetio headed high and wide from a McNamara corner. None of it troubled the goal.

Boro kept probing. Cozier-Duberry sent one just past the post, Okonkwo got down to keep out a Lankshear shot from the centre of the box, and Hellberg sent on Myles Peart-Harris, and Sam Byram for his league debut for the club, to see it through.

Lankshear finished it anyway. Eight minutes from time Berhalter's press forced a Charlton error, and Lankshear spun away from his marker and fired a left-footed shot from 20 yards into the top corner. That's his second double in successive matches, 13 league goals in 13 games and 15 for the season, already one more than Morgan Whittaker managed to finish as Boro's top scorer last term. He went off a minute later with cramp, the one worry on an otherwise perfect afternoon.

Okonkwo still had to save from substitute Jeremy Sarmiento after Callum Brittain's cross, and by the end Boro had 16 shots to Charlton's seven. Not one of the visitors' efforts was on target all afternoon.

Sebastian Berhalter, who scored the first and made the second, knows exactly what he has up front.

He [Will Lankshear] is such a quality player and it's his movement too - before I even had the ball (for the second goal), he started running across the line and that's something we talk about all the time. We trust each other.

Sebastian Berhalter, Middlesbrough midfielder, to BBC Radio Tees

He's a competitor, he makes sure he wins in training every time, and he loves scoring goals.

Sebastian Berhalter, Middlesbrough midfielder, to BBC Radio Tees

Kim Hellberg was pleased, though not entirely satisfied.

I think we played good, but maybe not at our best, and there were things that we could have done better. But at the end of the day, I think 3-0 is quite a fair result, and it tells a lot about this group and the quality they have.

Kim Hellberg, Middlesbrough head coach (Teesside Live)

If I picked two, I would pick my full-backs. I think they were absolutely brilliant - Neto and Britts.

Kim Hellberg

On Lankshear, he gave the credit to the service.

It helps to play in a team like ours… I don't think there's many teams in Europe that create more chances than us.

Kim Hellberg (PA)

Nathan Jones, whose side have not won since August, saw the problem at his own end.

We are constantly in games and there are moments where, if we don't score, they will sooner or later because we're not defending well enough.

Nathan Jones, Charlton boss, to BBC Radio London

Last year we came here with effectively a weaker group. I had Macaulay Gillesphey, Conor Coady and Kennan Gough as my back three and they defended considerably better than we did today.

Nathan Jones, Charlton boss, to BBC Radio London

The leaders were good. With Lankshear in this form, they look like they could be very good indeed.