PUL ON WAY UP
Tony’s all smiles now
TONY PULIS will be as happy as Middlesbrough’s bank manager after this romp at the Riverside.
With Wolves-bound Adama Traore set to follow Patrick Bamford and Ben Gibson through the exit door the club will have taken in around £40m during the summer transfer window.
Pulis is lining up an ambitious £15m swoop for Yannick Bolasie and also wants his Everton team-mate Mo Besic plus West Ham’s Jordan Hugill.
But Boro’s current players are faring pretty well without any recruits.
Avoidable
After scrambling a point with two late goals at Millwall on Saturday they eased past a Sheffield United side who were beaten inside half an hour.
The Blades were one of the division’s surprise packages last season and have hopes of reaching the play-offs this time but unless they improve at the back it could be a long season.
What made the visitors’ collapse so galling for boss Chris Wilder was that all three goals were avoidable.
John Egan was signed from Brentford to tighten the backline but the £4.1m signing, like his fellow defenders, had a night to forget.
Wilder’s side should have been behind after 49 seconds when Jonny Howson failed to beat Dean Henderson from six yards.
The reprieve lasted seven minutes. Lewis Wing swung in a left-wing corner, Dael Fry flicked on and Martin Braithwaite bundled home.
Wing, who was playing for Northern League Shildon in football’s ninth tier 18 months ago, notched up another assist on his first Boro start 11 minutes later.
Again United failed to deal with his set-piece and this time summer signing Aden Flint was the grateful recipient with a thumping header.
It went from bad to worse for United when Stewart Downing stretched the home side’s lead in the 25th minute.
Ryan Shotton lofted a cross towards the far post, Downing stuck out a leg and the ball reared off the turf, bouncing over Henderson into the net.
Liverpool loanee Ben Woodburn came off the bench to set up Leon Clarke but his 55th-minute header flew wide and he was also denied by Darren Randolph late on as Wilder’s side drew a blank on a miserable night for them.