Football Oct 27, 2026

Stoke 2-3 Middlesbrough: Neto Borges scores winner for Kim Hellberg's side to make up for earlier own goal

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By Admin
Sports Journalist
Stoke 2-3 Middlesbrough: Neto Borges scores winner for Kim Hellberg's side to make up for earlier own goal

Brazilian defender Neto Borges bagged a dramatic injury-time winner after earlier scoring an own goal as Championship high-fliers Middlesbrough secured a thrilling 3-2 victory over battling Stoke.

The 30-year-old netted his first league goal for 18 months as Boro stay second in the table after stretching their current unbeaten run to five games.

Defender Callum Brittain had fired the visitors ahead three minutes into the second half before Junior Tchamadeu's shot deflected in off Borges for an unfortunate own goal soon afterwards.

England Under-21 hitman Will Lankshear restored the visitors' lead with his eighth league goal in 10 games after Stoke keeper Viktor Johansson inexplicably spilled Brighton loanee Amario Cozier-Duberry's left-foot strike from the edge of the area. It took the striker to the top of the Championship scoring charts.

Substitute Robert Bozenik looked to have earned the home side a point, slotting home after Boro skipper Luke Ayling's poor clearance with five minutes left, but Borges scored from close range in the first of four minutes of stoppage time.

Stoke manager Mark Robins made two changes to his side with Tchamadeu and Bae Jun-ho installed in the starting line-up at the expense of Justin Devenny and the suspended Maksym Talovierov.

Boro boss Kim Hellberg also made two changes to his team with Ayling back and Jeremy Sarmiento recalled as Riley McGree and Tommy Conway dropped to the bench.

The visitors dominated the early possession, with Lankshear forcing a good low save from Johansson.

Two minutes later the Swedish shot-stopper reacted well to avert an own goal as Ben Johnson headed Borges' cross from the left towards his own net.

The hosts grew into the contest and Jack McGlynn had a powerful left-foot strike charged down on the edge of the box, before Sebastian Berhalter tried his luck at the other end with an ambitious long-range strike from just inside Stoke's half after Johansson was caught off his line making a rushed clearance.

Johansson made a smart block on the half-hour mark when Cozier-Duberry cut inside on the right and unleashed a left-foot shot on target.

Djibril Soumare blazed well over after Boro failed to clear from a corner as Stoke pressed for an opener before the break.

Cozier-Duberry cut in and saw another left-foot shot charged down, while Aidan Morris scuffed a close-range volley which Johansson gratefully gathered.

Brittain needed just three minutes to fire the home side into the lead after the restart, but Borges unwittingly drew the Potters level moments later.

Full-back Brittain was denied by a fine low save from an alert Johansson at his near post and Tchamadeu then squandered a glorious chance to put the home side ahead for the first time. Ben Wilmot's pinpoint long ball left his team-mate with only Boro keeper Radek Vitek to beat, but the 22-year-old dragged his shot frustratingly wide of the right upright.

Johansson carelessly let Cozier-Duberry's shot slip from his grasp with 16 minutes left and Lankshear was never going to miss from point-blank range.

Bozenik, just on from the bench, restored parity but some slack defending allowed Borges to make up for his own goal and give Boro victory in front of just over 2,000 travelling supporters.

Stoke's Mark Robins:

"There's a lot to be really positive about, but at the same time harsh lessons learned.

"That's an understanding of what one of the top teams in the division looks like - and we can also look like that.

"The game was nip-and-tuck and we had to be patient to try and win the ball back, but we did gift them the ball back too quickly.

"They're a good team and we've got to do things quicker, there's no doubt about that. I didn't feel as though we did that well enough for the majority of the first half. We had very limited opportunities.

"But when we went a goal down the mindset changed and the rhythm started to come back into it.

"The biggest thing is it's [Boro's second goal] a shot from distance - a powerful shot that it was - but Vik couldn't just hold on to that one and we've got to be there to pick that one up and help him. He makes so many saves for us, but we were like lead on our feet.

"And we served up [their winner], we didn't defend it and we've got to be disappointed with the outcome of the game. We need to learn a lesson for sure."

Middlesbrough's Kim Hellberg:

"In general it was an absolutely top away performance. There's a lot of emotions at the end, it was a strong mentality from the boys.

"Honestly though it feels very weird we've conceded two goals like we did because I thought we defended really, really good.

"We were very good on the ball and created a lot of opportunities, I think we had around 20 shots away from home against a team that have won five and drawn one from their last six games.

"It was a massive game for us and how we started the game was ridiculous, but overall I'm very, very happy with the performance.

"It was a good way to win it even though we wanted to keep a clean sheet."

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