Isaiah Jones ended a run of seven matches without a goal by scoring twice to help Middlesbrough to a 4-0 win over Preston at the Riverside.
North End looked like a team that has won just two of their last 11 matches rather than one that started the night sixth in the Sky Bet Championship, as Middlesbrough cruised into a three-goal lead at the break.
Jones’ fourth and fifth goals of the season in the 16th and 37th minutes sandwiched Rav van den Berg’s first senior goal in the 26th minute to put Michael Carrick’s side well on track for their biggest home win of the season so far.
And deep in stoppage-time summer signing Alex Bangura cut inside his man to curl in the fourth to cap a miserable night for the visitors.
Despite losing Dael Fry at the heart of the defence, Boro were untroubled largely throughout the first half. The man who replaced him in the middle did the job at both ends.
Van den Berg, who has played right-back following his arrival from FC Zwolle, had been largely untested but was a calming influence on the ball in the opening exchanges.
That helped to lay the foundations for the opener. His central defensive partner Paddy McNair was involved in the move along with Jonny Howson and Dan Barlaser before Matt Crooks received possession 22 yards from goal. Rather than shoot, Crooks rolled a pass into the path of Jones for him to control and finish calmly at a time when the game was in need of some goalmouth quality.
It was 2-0 10 minutes later. Van den Berg coasted in at the back to meet Barlaser’s corner and, despite failing to head, the ball bounced off the defender’s chest and beat goalkeeper Freddie Woodman once more.
After a couple of tame Preston attempts to close the deficit, Middlesbrough extended their advantage eight minutes before half-time.
This time Morgan Rogers played in Jones and the winger lifted a lovely finish above and beyond Woodman.
Woodman had to make two big saves before the break to prevent Jones from grabbing a first half hat-trick and stop Rogers finding the target.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe’s frustrations were clear. He took Milutin Osmajic and Will Keane off and replaced them with Ched Evans and Calvin Ramsey at the start of the second half in a bid to make a fight of it.
But Boro, who climb to ninth with this victory, forced Woodman into another strong save to his left after a good move created an opening for Rogers.
The keeper also saved from Emmanuel Latte Lath before Bangura completed the scoring in the fourth minute of added time to wrap up a routine win for Boro.