Middlesbrough debrief as Sontje Hansen proves an immediate game-changer at Millwall

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Middlesbrough continued their fine start to the league season as they beat Millwall 3-0 in their first away game of the new season.

Second-half goals from Hayden Hackney, Alfie Jones and Delano Burgzorg sealed the win for Boro in what was a harder battle than the scoreline might suggest. Just as with last weekend’s victory over Swansea City, Boro had to show their battling qualities as well as a ruthless edge after the second half.

Including the positive, the game-changing moment and the big lesson learned, here is the Middlesbrough debrief after their fantastic afternoon in the capital.

The goals

49 mins: Boro 1-0, Hackney - A lovely turn from Sontje Hansen to beat his man before driving to the edge of the box and playing Whittaker to the byline. He cuts it back and Hackney arrives to finish off a great move.

87 mins: Boro 2-0, Jones - Another goal from a set-piece. Hackney’s corner ended up falling at Ayling’s feet. He battles to get a shot off and though it’s blocked, it falls kindly for Jones who smashes it home.

90+7 mins: Boro 3-0, Burgzorg - Even this late into the game, Boro still press through Callum Brittain and Finn Azaz and force the error. Azaz capitalises and produces a wonderful chipped through pass to put Burgzorg through who produces a good finish.

The game-changing moment

Despite Boro’s late goals, this was another tight game for the most part. And with that in mind the first goal will always be so important. With that in mind, it’s hard to pick between two moments that ultimately ensured Boro left the capital with all three points.

The first was Luke Ayling’s goalline clearance. It looked for all intents and purposes that Casper De Norre would fire the home side in front just before the break. It would have been a huge blow to Boro, who had come through the early pressure. Ayling’s outstretched leg ensured they went in goalless.

That allowed Edwards to make the half-time change that ultimately paid dividends. The second vital moment belonged to debutant Sontje Hansen, who looked lively throughout his 45-minute appearance. In one clever turn away from his marker and drive to the box, he opened up a Millwall defence that Boro had been struggling to crack in the first half.

As an added bonus, what about Josh Coburn’s miss, just moments after Hayden Hackney’s opener too. Playing against Boro as a senior player for the first time, the Teessider must be wondering how on earth his back post header stayed out. It bounced off both posts and came out with so much pace that Ayling nearly touched it into his own net. A quick equaliser would have been a real kick in the teeth.

Boro's best player

You could take your pick from a number of them, with Boro’s players enjoying an excellent day at the Den. Having been put under heavy pressure in the opening 20 minutes and again for the final 15, our man of the match went to Alfie Jones, whose performance we described as colossal.

He was an absolute unit at the back for Boro, winning absolutely every duel he was forced to challenge for against a Millwall side who went direct as you’d expect. He got his reward late on as he scored Boro’s second, and his first for the club, effectively sealing the win.

The positive

Very similar to Swansea, this was a tight game in which Boro were committed to their defending and got their noses in front early in the second half. Though Coburn had that chance moments later, beyond that, Boro limited Millwall to virtually nothing.

Just like against Swansea a week ago, Boro’s game-management was brilliant as they managed Millwall’s attempts to get back into the game really well. To go one better than a week earlier, they also added a couple of late goals to kill the game off.

The negative

There wasn’t a lot not to like in this performance. It was by no means perfect, but at such an early stage in Edwards’ tenure, they were never going to be. If you were to nit-pick, they still weren’t the most effective attacking side - two well put-together moves and a set-piece aside.

In his 69 minutes on the pitch, Tommy Conway was once again starved of service. Hansen’s introduction allowed Hackney to move deeper and it helped Boro have a much improved attacking impetus in the second half. With Azaz showing his quality from the bench too, hopefully that side of Boro will come.

The main thing we learned

This Boro squad isn’t as bad as some have made out. Yes, there is still some transfer work to do, and yes, if they were to lose a large number of their starting 11 it might be a different story. But there’s still a lot of very good players at this football club after big spending in recent years.

The verdict

Two league games, two clean sheets. This has been an excellent start to the season - League Cup exit aside. Even with that, they got it out of their system when it was least relevant and showed the right response and improvements at Millwall. It’s not time to get carried away by any means, but Boro winning their first two league games of a season since 1994 speaks volumes. What a great start to the season for Boro and Edwards.

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