Lankshear Shines on Debut as Middlesbrough Advances
Will Lankshear needed only one swing of his right boot to announce himself at Middlesbrough.
The £10m summer signing from Tottenham marked his debut with a ruthless finish as Boro edged past Wrexham 1-0 in the Carabao Cup first round, a tight, tense tie decided by a moment of clean technique and sharper thinking in the box.
Lankshear settles it on debut
For an hour, this was a cup tie that simmered without boiling. Middlesbrough carried the early threat. In the seventh minute, they should have been in front: Sebastian Berhalter whipped in a teasing cross, Adilson Malanda darted to meet it and prodded goalwards from close range, only for Danny Ward to throw himself into a superb point-blank save. It set the tone. Boro had territory, Wrexham had resistance.
The visitors grew into it. Danny Imray found himself with a decent opening from a Callum Doyle cross but failed to make a proper connection, a chance that begged for conviction. Then, six minutes before the break, Nathan Broadhead rolled Sam Smith into space and the forward drilled low, only to see Sol Brynn block with his legs. One big chance each, no breakthrough, and a restless edge around the ground.
Lankshear almost changed that seconds after the restart. Drifting into space, the 21-year-old shaped a curling effort that just cleared the bar, a warning that his radar had locked in. Wrexham did not heed it.
On 61 minutes, the pressure finally told. Jeremy Sarmiento bent in a cross from the right, Leo Castledine rose to glance it into the danger area, and Lankshear did the rest. One touch, one swivel, one vicious, first-time volley hooked into the far corner. No hesitation, no adjustment. A finisher’s goal, hit with the certainty of a player who believes he belongs.
Wrexham tried to respond, but clear chances dried up. Middlesbrough managed the game, tightened the spaces and waited for the counterpunch. They almost killed it off three minutes from time when Morgan Whittaker drove low across Ward, only to see his effort crash back off the post.
Boro did not need the second. The debut strike was enough. Lankshear walked off to the applause of a crowd that had just seen a very expensive question answered, at least for one night.
Wolves cruise as Jimenez returns
At Molineux, Wolves made far lighter work of their assignment, sweeping aside Port Vale 3-0 with all the damage done before half-time.
Cesar Peixoto, in his first game in charge, watched his side move through the gears with a control that quickly strangled any upset talk. Adam Armstrong struck, Andre added another, and Fer Lopez joined in to put the tie out of reach for the League Two side before the interval. Three chances, three clinical blows, and Wolves were gone.
Port Vale still carved out moments. Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel, in one of the strangest incidents of the night, hooked an extraordinary chance away from the Wolves goal just before the break when any touch in the other direction might have dragged his team back into it. Later, Mo Faal stepped up from the spot, only for Dan Bentley to save with his legs and deny the travelling support even a consolation.
The loudest noise, though, belonged to a familiar figure. Raul Jimenez, back at Wolves after three years with Fulham, entered as a late substitute and was serenaded by the home fans who once watched him terrorise Premier League defences. He did manage one fierce effort on goal, but the script-writer’s finish never came. A goal for the returning hero would have been cruel on a Port Vale side that at least kept swinging.
Wolves did not need it. The job was done long before Jimenez stepped onto the pitch, their place in the second round secured with minimal fuss and a hint that Peixoto’s tenure might bring a more ruthless edge.
Magennis delivers last-gasp drama for Stevenage
If Wolves strolled and Middlesbrough edged, Stevenage clung on and then stole it.
Josh Magennis, a summer signing from Exeter and a substitute on the night, rose in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to power home a header and snatch a 2-1 win at Wycombe, sealing progress in the dying seconds of their 50th anniversary season opener.
The drama at the end felt a long way off during Wycombe’s early dominance. The hosts pressed, probed and pinned Stevenage back, only to be caught cold on 27 minutes. Dan Kemp pounced on hesitancy in the home defence, burst clear and drilled a low finish past the keeper. Against the run of play, Stevenage led.
The goal jolted Wycombe. Ewan Henderson dragged them level in the 38th minute, arriving cleverly to meet Silko Thomas’ cross from the left and guiding a right-footed effort home from just outside the six-yard box. The momentum seemed to have turned.
Stevenage almost ripped it back immediately. On the stroke of half-time, Kemp rattled the crossbar with a fierce strike from the edge of the area, a reminder that this was no smash-and-grab outfit content to cling on.
After the break, Wycombe took control again. They pushed higher, asked repeated questions and thought they had their moment when new signing Emre Tezgel, on for Cauley Woodrow, tried to force in another Thomas cross on 77 minutes. Captain Carl Piergianni threw himself in front to block, a captain’s intervention that kept Stevenage alive.
It proved decisive. With penalties looming, Stevenage forced a late corner from the left. Phoenix Patterson delivered, Magennis attacked it, and the ball thudded into the net. One header, one eruption in the away end, and a perfect start to a landmark season for the club.
Three different ties. Three very different paths into the second round. Lankshear’s clean volley, Wolves’ early blitz and Magennis’ stoppage-time winner all carried the same message as the Carabao Cup returned: blink in this competition, and it moves on without you.
