Hull City 1-4 Middlesbrough: FLW report as Boro blitz past Tigers with ruthless first-half rout | OneFootball

FLW report from the MKM Stadium for this Championship fixture

Middlesbrough made it two wins from two under the newly-appointed Kim Hellberg with a 4-1 rout over Hull City at the MKM Stadium.

Despite a competitive contest being forecast, the Reds had their 10th win of the Championship season sewn up by half-time thanks to a ruthless display.

David Strelec set them on their way with a clinical finish from inside the box after nine minutes after poor defending from Sergej Jakirovic's side, which became a recurring theme.

City were then punished three further times in a 12-minute period after the half-hour mark, with Alex Gilbert following up his last-minute winner against the East Yorkshire side 11 months ago with a well-taken drive, before Morgan Whittaker's curling effort made it three after 34 minutes.

Riley McGree eventually made it four just before the interval, whilst Joe Gelhardt netted his 10th of the season for Hull from the penalty spot with 28 minutes remaining.

Hull City 1-4 Middlesbrough

Boro would carve out the first chance of the encounter inside five minutes, albeit Whittaker couldn't continue his goalscoring form with a tame effort comfortably saved by Ivor Pandur.

Strelec opened the scoring with his second goal for the Reds four minutes later. Tommy Conway's cross, intended for Whittaker, deflected off a Tigers man into the Slovakian's path as he unleashed a lethal finish past Pandur.

City's defence remained all at sea for the opening 20 minutes, with McGree trying his luck through an effort which dipped the wrong side of the crossbar.

Eight minutes later, a below-par performance almost got worse for the hosts as Pandur collided with John Egan in the left-side of the penalty area, although the Irishman's quick thinking denied Strelec the chance to slot into an empty net.

After Strelec let the Tigers off the hook once more with a shot that almost found the bottom corner, Gilbert would double Boro's advantage on 31 minutes with a low shot after Conway's initial cross was once again not dealt with.

Hellberg's side were then in dreamland 11 minutes before the break as City's defence was torn apart once more, with Whittaker finding the bottom corner with a stunning curling effort, whilst the home sections of the MKM were left stunned.

The rout continued on the stroke of half-time. McGree needed two swipes at the ball to find target as he remained unchallenged inside the box, with the Australian's effort going under Pandur and in.

10 minutes into the second period, Hull enjoyed a 'mini-spell' of pressure in which Egan warmed the hands of Sol Brynn for the first time all night, before a subsequent corner was eventually wasted by a combination of the defender, substitute Mohamed Belloumi and Gelhardt.

On a grim night for Jakirovic's side, one plus point was the aforementioned forward hitting double-figures for the season from the penalty spot after he was adjudged to have been felled by Brynn after attempting to round the Boro keeper on the hour-mark.

The visitors immediately set about restoring their four-goal deficit, though, with Hayden Hackney's deflected volley leaving Pandur stranded as it flew wide of the mark, before substitute, Sam Silvera, saw an effort deflected wide with 13 minutes remaining.

Hackney went in search of a fifth for the visitors with less than 10 minutes on the clock, although the highly-rated midfielder would find Charlie Hughes in the way of a curling free-kick.

With the game fizzing out, a resounding victory was enough to ensure Middlesbrough remain in the automatic promotion places for the weekend, whilst Hull remain ninth ahead of Saturday's fixtures, albeit their goal difference has taken a major hit.

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)

Matt Crooks - 6

Kyle Joseph - 5.5 (Belloumi 46" - 6.5)

Enis Destan - 6 (Millar 65" - 6)

Unused Subs: Dillon Phillips, Akin Famewo, Joel Ndala, 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 Subs: Jon McLaughlin, George McCormick, Micah Hamilton, Sontje Hansen

Sergej Jakirovic reacts as Hull City defeated heavily by Middlesbrough

Reacting to the lowest point of his Tigers tenure thus far, Jakirovic said: "My message (at half-time) was to stick together and never surrender.

"We would try and play with a clean sheet in the second half, and if we could, to try and punish them and score a first and second as quickly as possible.

"But, tonight, we were too far away from everything, especially in the first-half," the Bosnian explained. "Every mistake, they punished with a goal, and it's very difficult to play like this.

"Already, you know it's done, but at least we showed a reaction in the second-half, and I can be pleased with what I saw. But, Middlesbrough were much better than us.

When asked about his side's first-half, Jakirovic added: "First goal, we tried to press them and we were not compact.

"Our setup wasn't good and on the right side, we were too far away from the players, especially on the body, and maybe Slater could save the backpass, but the ball fell to Strelec and he 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 dominant vs Hull City

Reacting to a second successive win, Hellberg said: "I am (so pleased).

"I think the first half, the quality and bravery the players had, it was brilliant to watch. We also produced a brilliant second half to kill the game off.

"It's difficult to go in at 4-0 in terms of how you solve the second half, it's more about killing the game off. Of course, we could have been better in some transitions, but how we defended (was impressive).

"I think it's a penalty, but I don't remember them creating many chances. We defended very well in the second half, and the first half was brilliant.

When asked if the first half addressed any creative issues, the Swede responded: "It felt like we had more chances. I think we played amazing attacking football in terms of controlling the game and being brave on the ball.

"I'm very proud of the players."