Lankshear Shines on Middlesbrough Debut with Stunning Goal

Will Lankshear marked his Middlesbrough debut with a decisive touch and a finish that belonged on a far bigger stage.

The £10m summer signing from Tottenham needed just one clear sight of goal to settle a tight Carabao Cup first-round tie, hooking home a superb volley on 61 minutes to edge out Wrexham 1-0 and give Boro the start they wanted.

Lankshear announces himself

The move that decided it was simple, sharp and ruthless. Jeremy Sarmiento swung in a cross from the right, Leo Castledine rose to glance a header into space, and Lankshear did the rest. One swivel, one clean, first-time volley, dragged perfectly into the far corner. A striker’s goal, and a striker’s calm.

He had already warned Wrexham at the start of the second half, bending a curling effort just over the bar. Once the chance came again, he did not hesitate. One chance too many for the visitors.

Middlesbrough might have been ahead long before that. Inside seven minutes, Sebastian Berhalter picked out Adilson Malanda with a clever ball into the six-yard box. Malanda stabbed goalwards, only for Danny Ward to throw out an arm and produce a point-blank save that set the tone for his night.

Wrexham were not overawed. Danny Imray should have punished Boro when Callum Doyle found him with a teasing cross, but the finish lacked conviction. Six minutes before half-time, Nathan Broadhead rolled Sam Smith into space and the forward drilled low, only to see Sol Brynn block with his legs.

The game never quite settled. It swung, it snapped, it threatened to open up without ever doing so. Then Lankshear struck, and everything changed.

Middlesbrough almost killed it off late on when Morgan Whittaker drove a low shot against the post with three minutes remaining, but one goal proved enough. The debutant had already done the damage.

Wolves ease through as Jimenez returns

At Molineux, Wolves made far lighter work of their first-round assignment, brushing aside Port Vale 3-0 with all the goals arriving before the interval.

Adam Armstrong, Andre and Fer Lopez shared them out, each strike widening the gap and handing new head coach Cesar Peixoto a comfortable victory in his first game in charge.

Port Vale, under Jon Brady, refused to fold. Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel somehow hooked an extraordinary chance away from the Wolves goal rather than into it before the break, a miss that summed up their evening. Later, Mo Faal stepped up from the spot, only for Dan Bentley to block his low penalty with his legs and deny the travelling support even a consolation.

The loudest noise, though, greeted a familiar figure. Raul Jimenez, Wolves’ Premier League-era top scorer, re-signed this summer after three seasons at Fulham and stepped off the bench to a roar from the 21,360 crowd. He unleashed one fierce effort, searching for the fairytale goal, but could not add his name to the scoresheet. The points, and the progress, were already secure.

Wolves move on, with Jimenez back in gold and black and the competition already offering a hint of momentum.

Magennis steals it at the death

At Wycombe, the drama came late and from the forehead of a new face. Josh Magennis, a summer arrival from Exeter, climbed highest in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to nod in Phoenix Patterson’s corner and send Stevenage into the second round with a 2-1 win.

It was a fitting way to launch the club’s 50th anniversary season: a substitute centre-forward, a last-gasp set-piece, and a smash-and-grab finish in front of stunned home fans.

Stevenage had already shown their threat against the run of play. On 27 minutes, Dan Kemp pounced on hesitation in the Wycombe back line, burst through and drilled a low shot past the keeper to give the visitors the lead.

Wycombe woke up. Ewan Henderson dragged them level in the 38th minute, timing his run perfectly to meet Silko Thomas’ cross from the left and steering a right-footed finish from just outside the six-yard box. By half-time, Kemp had rattled the bar from the edge of the area, another warning that Stevenage were not content to sit in.

After the break, Wycombe controlled territory and tempo but not the scoreline. Substitute Emre Tezgel came closest, attacking another Thomas delivery from the left in the 77th minute, only for captain Carl Piergianni to throw himself in and block what looked a certain goal.

That intervention kept Stevenage alive long enough for Magennis to settle it at the last, his header turning a hard-fought contest into a statement win.

The Carabao Cup has only just kicked off, but for Lankshear, Jimenez and Magennis, it already feels like a competition that could shape the early story of their season.