Charlton Athletic surprised several teams in the Championship by defeating promotion-chasing Middlesbrough 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday night.

Although the Addicks had won 1-0 at home against Birmingham City on Saturday, it was no surprise that Kim Hellberg’s team were anticipated to re-establish a four-point lead over third-placed Millwall.

However, the Swedes unable to break down a strong Addicks defensive unit, and they have now gone three games without a win at the Riverside, following draws with relegation-threatened Oxford United and Leicester City.

It is in sharp contrast to the level of performance and results displayed by the North East team on their travels. Indeed, Middlesbrough scored seven goals in six days last week, including two statement wins over Birmingham and Queens Park Rangers, in a bid to maintain their lead in the Championship.

They were dragged back down to earth by the South London side, who had only one shot on goal after 59 minutes, when Conor Coady flicked Harry Clarke’s long throw past Sol Brynn.

It’s a huge three points for the capital club, who are currently nine points clear of the relegation zone ahead of a key match against Oxford this weekend.

While Jones was extremely proud of his team’s defensive performance against a total of 34 shots from their hosts, his post-match evaluation of the Premier League hopes was curious to say the least.

Nathan Jones makes a ‘arrogant’ claim as Charlton Athletic shock Middlesbrough.

In his post-match press conference, the Welshman revealed that defensive consistency was critical to guaranteeing any kind of positive result for the Addicks, as well as how he personally witnessed Middlesbrough take apart QPR on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m delighted with both the application of the players and the result,” Jones told ESPN.Would we have preferred to be more fluid? Would we have like to have a little more possession? A couple more chances? Of course. However, we value the high degree of quality that exists here.We’ve been back in the Championship for seven months. Middlesbrough has been in or out of the Premier League for a decade or more, according to the speaker.During my time as an assistant at Brighton, Middlesbrough was promoted to the Premier League, indicating that they are well ahead of us in terms of growth.”I watched them over the weekend and they were very confident and fluid.”Jones described their behavior as bordering on arrogance.And we knew we needed to defend well tonight if we were to keep a clean sheet and get anything out of the game. And I felt we accomplished that.”

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Charlton’s triumph on Wednesday night was only their fourth away win of the season, and their first since January 31st, when they beat Leicester 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.

Kim Hellberg has to find Middlesbrough solutions as Riverside Stadium frustrations continue

Middlesbrough still has the division’s fourth-best home record, having earned 35 of their 69 points at the Riverside, but it is evident that Hellberg must find short-term solutions to their recent home problems.

Boro have had 75 efforts at goal in their last three Teesside fixtures, but have only scored once and taken two points out of a possible nine, with another home game against Bristol City coming up on Saturday.

They currently lead the promotion race in terms of points, but if the game against the Robins on Saturday follows a similar trend, supporters’ anxiety and irritation will only grow.