Middlesbrough defeated Hull City 4-1 at the MKM Stadium, making it two wins out of two under new manager Kim Hellberg.
Despite the fact that a difficult game was expected, the Reds had their 10th Championship win secured by halftime owing to a merciless performance.
David Strelec put them on their way after nine minutes with a crisp finish from inside the box, capitalizing on Sergej Jakirovic’s weak defending, which became a recurring theme.
After the half-hour mark, City were punished three more times in a 12-minute spell, with Alex Gilbert following up his last-minute winner against the East Yorkshire club 11 months earlier with a well-taken drive, and Morgan Whittaker’s curling effort making it three after 34 minutes.
Riley McGree ultimately made it four just before halftime, and Joe Gelhardt scored his 10th goal of the season for Hull from the penalty spot with 28 minutes left.
Hull City 1-4 Middlesbrough
Boro would create the opening chance of the game within five minutes, but Whittaker couldn’t keep his scoring streak going with a weak effort cleanly stopped by Ivor Pandur.
Strelec scored the Reds’ second goal four minutes later. Tommy Conway’s cross, intended for Whittaker, deflected off a Tigers player and into the Slovakian’s path, where he blasted a devastating finish past Pandur.
For the first 20 minutes, City’s defence was completely out of sync, with McGree attempting a shot that dropped the wrong side of the crossbar.
Eight minutes later, Pandur collided with John Egan in the left side of the penalty box, almost exacerbating the hosts’ poor performance, but the Irishman’s quick thinking denied Strelec the opportunity to slot into an empty net.
Strelec let the Tigers off the hook again with a shot that nearly struck the bottom corner, but Gilbert doubled Boro’s lead on 31 minutes with a low shot after Conway’s initial cross was not dealt with.
Hellberg’s side were then in dreamland 11 minutes before halftime, as City’s defence was ripped apart once more, with Whittaker finding the bottom corner with a magnificent curling effort, leaving the home portions of the MKM dumbfounded.
The thrashing continued at halftime. McGree required two shots at the ball to hit the target as he remained uncontested inside the box, with the Australian’s effort sliding under Pandur and in.
Hull enjoyed a’mini-spell’ of pressure 10 minutes into the second session, with Egan warming Sol Brynn’s hands for the first time all night, but a subsequent corner was eventually wasted by a combination of the defender, replacement Mohamed Belloumi, and Gelhardt.
On a bleak night for Jakirovic’s side, one bright light was the aforementioned forward scoring double figures for the season from the penalty spot after being ruled to have been felled by Brynn when attempting to round the Boro keeper on the hour.
The visitors quickly set about restoring their four-goal lead, with Hayden Hackney’s deflected volley leaving Pandur stranded as it drifted wide of the mark, while substitute Sam Silvera’s shot was deflected wide with 13 minutes left.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Hackney attempted to add a fifth goal for the visitors, but his looping free-kick was blocked by Charlie Hughes.
With the game coming to a finish, Middlesbrough’s overwhelming victory was enough to keep them in the automatic promotion spots for the weekend, while Hull remains ninth ahead of Saturday’s matches, despite a significant drop in goal difference.
FT: Hull City 1-4 Middlesbrough
Player Ratings: Hull City Ivor Pandur – 4.5
Lewie Coyle – 5.5
Semi Ajayi – 4
John Egan – 5.
Ryan Giles – 5.5
Amir Hadziahmetovic – 4.5 (Hughes 46″-6.5)
Regan Slater – 5.5 (Akintola 75″ -6)
Joe Gelhardt – 6.5 (Gyabi 74″-6)
Matthew Crooks – 6
Kyle Joseph – 5.5, Belloumi 46″ – 6.5.
Enis Destan – 6 (Millar 65″-6)
Unused subs: Dillon Phillips, Akin Famewo, Joel Ndala, and Oli McBurnie.
Middlesbrough Sol Brynn – 6
Callum Brittain – 7.5
Alfie Jones – 7.
Matt Targett – 7.5
Alex Bangura – 7.5 (Edmundson 68″-6).
Hayden Hackney – 7.5
Riley McGree – 7.5 (Burgzorg 85″-6)
Morgan Whittaker – 8.5 (Nypan 79″-6)
Alex Gilbert – 8.5.
Tommy Conway – 7.5 (Silvera 68″-6).
David Strelec – 7.5 (Sene 78″ – 6)
Unused substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, George McCormick, Micah Hamilton, Sontje Hansen.
Sergej Jakirovic reacts to Hull City’s heavy defeat by Middlesbrough.
In response to the lowest point of his Tigers tenure thus far, Jakirovic stated: “My message (at halftime) was to keep together and never surrender.
“We would want to keep a clean sheet in the second half, and if feasible, punish them by scoring the first and second goals as soon as possible.
“But tonight, we were too far away from everything, especially in the first half,” the Bosnian said. “Every mistake is punished with a goal, and it’s extremely difficult to play this way.
“You already know it’s done, but we showed a reaction in the second half, and I’m pleased with what I saw.” However, Middlesbrough fared far better than us.
When asked about his team’s first-half performance, Jakirovic said, “First goal, we tried to press them and were not compact.”
“Our setup was poor, and we were too far away from the players on the right side, particularly on the body. Slater could have saved the backpass, but the ball dropped to Strelec, who scored.
“Second goal we made a tactical mistake, the third is maybe a foul on (Regan) Slater, and the fourth killed us.”
Kim Hellberg reacts as Middlesbrough dominates against Hull City.
In response to his second consecutive win, Hellberg commented, “I am (so pleased).”
“I thought the first half, with the players’ quality and bravery, was fantastic to witness. We also had a fantastic second half to seal the victory.
“It’s impossible to go in at 4-0 and solve the second half; it’s more about finishing the game off. Of course, we should have performed better in some transitions, but our defense was impressive.
“I believe it was a penalty, but I don’t recall them creating many chances. We defended quite well in the second half, and the first half was fantastic.
When asked if the first half solved any creative concerns, the Swede said, “It felt like we had more opportunities. I believe we played fantastic attacking football in terms of ball control and bravery.
“I’m very proud of the players.”
Hull City v Middlesbrough Attendance
This Championship fixture drew 21,105 spectators to the MKM Stadium.
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