Will Lankshear continued his incredible scoring spree as Middlesbrough continued to set the pace at the top of the Championship by beating Charlton at the Riverside.

Sebastian Berhalter put Boro in front and then turned provider with a perfectly weighted pass which allowed Lankshear to dink the ball over keeper Arthur Okonkwo.

Charlton won the majority of the aerial duels but lacked the quality in Middlesbrough's half to drag themselves back into the game and Lankshear added the clincher in the 82nd minute, powering home a superb strike to make it seven goals in five games, and 15 overall for the season so far.

The visitors failed to muster a single shot on target throughout and the Halloween win completed a highly successful October for Kim Hellberg's Boro, bringing them 13 points from five games and stretching their unbeaten run to 11 matches.

Boro unsurprisingly named the same XI which started their 5-1 win at Bolton eight days previously, while Charlton boss Nathan Jones made five changes as they looked to end a run of nine games without a win, with Harvey Knibbs making his first start of the campaign.

They won the corresponding fixture 1-0 last season but found themselves behind in the 12th minute when Berhalter found the bottom corner of the net after receiving the ball from Amari Cozier-Duberry.

Tommy Conway just missed the target with a curling effort before Charlton almost levelled when Miles Leaburn met Tyler Bindon's long throw only for his header to fly the wrong side of the post.

The second goal arrived just before the break when Berhalter bisected the Addicks' defence with an angled ball and Lankshear beat the onrushing Okonkwo with all the assurance of a forward in the purplest of purple patches.

Charlton, who lost Kayne Ramsay at the interval following a first-half knock, needed a quick response following the restart but almost fell further behind when Cozier-Duberry and Neto Borges went close.

Traffic continued to flow mainly one-way as Lankshear again tested Okonkwo, the Charlton keeper this time equal to his finish from Ashley Phillips' pass.

But the striker was not to be denied his second double in successive matches, and after spinning away from his marker he fired a left-foot effort from 20 yards into the top corner as Charlton suffered their third defeat in a row and fourth in seven away games in 2026-27.

They are next in action at home to Bolton on Tuesday evening, while Middlesbrough travel to north Wales to take on Wrexham 24 hours later.

Middlesbrough midfielder Sebastian Berhalter told BBC Radio Tees:

"It wasn't clicking at first and I think the fans kept us going - it didn't matter if we messed up, they believed in us.

"They were direct and have two guys up top that do a really good job and it was for us to stay strong, weather that storm and be ready to strike when we're ready.

"He [Will Lankshear] is such a quality player and it's his movement too - before I even had the ball (for the second goal), he started running across the line and that's something we talk about all the time. We trust each other.

"He's a competitor. He makes sure he wins in training every time, and he loves scoring goals. For a 21-year-old to have that determination and drive is impressive. He demands a lot of us and we demand a lot of him and we all have a great connection."

Charlton boss Nathan Jones told BBC Radio London:

"We are constantly in games and there are moments where, if we don't score, they will sooner or later because we're not defending well enough.

"We've been doing the basics well since I've been here. Two-and-a-half years, and now we've stopped doing those things.

"Last year we came here with effectively a weaker group. I had Macaulay Gillesphey, Conor Coady and Kennan Gough as my back three and they defended considerably better than we did today.

"Last year we had that desire to keep clean sheets and at the minute we're not showing that desire."