Lankshear at the double as Middlesbrough thump Bolton to go top

Middlesbrough moved to the Sky Bet Championship summit in emphatic fashion by thumping Bolton 5-1 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Will Lankshear continued his electric start to life in a Boro shirt with two more goals taking him to 11 in the league and 13 in all competitions.

Aidan Morris and Amario Cozier-Duberry were also on target, while Lewis Brunt scored an unfortunate own goal.

Kim Hellberg’s side move two points above Swansea, who travel to QPR on Saturday, and three above West Ham, who take on Southampton.

It was clear from the off Middlesbrough were out to get their business wrapped up early. They had a corner inside the first minute, their first chance inside two and after 13, they had the lead, when former Bolton loanee Cozier-Duberry squared for Morris to sweep in.

The shots kept flowing. Bolton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu made three excellent saves in quick succession, but there was only so much he could do. And just after the half-hour, it was 2-0 when Lankshear struck after exquisite teamwork in the build-up.

Boro were dominating and added a third on 39 minutes, when Adilson Malanda rose to meet a corner from the right and headed onto the unfortunate Brunt, who could do nothing to prevent the ball crossing the line.

Through sheer determination, Bolton reduced the deficit at half-time, when Theo Bair hit a shot through a crowd and, for almost 20 minutes after the break, they did not allow Boro a single shot.

However, much like the first half, Bazunu made another couple of saves – then the visitors added the gloss.

Cozier-Duberry first fired high into the net after being picked out by Riley McGree, before Lankshear struck the fifth of the night rolling in McGree’s unselfish square ball after a lethal breakaway.

What the result means and next fixtures…

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