Middlesbrough 2-0 Stoke City: Doak and Hackney score in Boro win

Middlesbrough beat Stoke City with goals from Ben Doak and Hayden Hackney.

Doak, on loan from Liverpool, tapped in the loose ball after a save by Stoke keeper Viktor Johansson in the 34th minute and academy graduate Hackney scored with a screamer into the top corner in the second half.

It was new Potters boss Narcis Pelach’s second successive defeat since his appointment two weeks ago.

Their third win of the season lifted Boro to eighth in the Championship table, while Stoke are 20th.

Stoke’s willingness to pass the ball around at the back presented early opportunities for Boro as left-back Neto Borges’ in-swinging ball for Australian Riley McGree was cut out in just the second minute, before hard-working striker Emmanuel Latte Lath guided a near-post header wide a couple of minutes later.

The Potters then responded with a big chance of their own in a 12th-minute counter-attack through Bae Jun-Ho, who was denied by the diving Seny Dieng.

Doak tormented the hapless Eric Bocat on the right-hand side and the Scot’s efforts were rewarded on the 34-minute mark, tapping home a rebound after Johansson palmed away a McGree cross.

Stoke’s Swedish international keeper Johansson was made to work hard, making seven saves in total, one of which was 10 minutes after half-time, flying to his left to tip a Latte Lath strike around the post.

Boro’s eagerness to score a second resulted in an absolute scorcher in the 74th minute from Hackney, who ran through midfield to smash home.

Midfielder Finn Azaz could have added a third for Boro towards the end following a mix-up between substitute Michael Rose and Johansson, but it didn’t matter as Michael Carrick’s side saw out the remainder of the game to pick up their second home win of the season.