Middlesbrough 2-0 Stoke City: Another Defeat for Narcis Pelach's Side

Stoke City suffered their second consecutive defeat under Narcis Pelach, highlighting the serious problems the team faces in securing positive results in the EFL Championship. Middlesbrough was dominant throughout the match, eventually securing a 2-0 victory.

Stoke City, on the other hand, appeared increasingly fragile on the pitch, with a defense that was practically non-existent.

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A Difficult and Complicated Match for Stoke City

From the first to the last minute, Middlesbrough was clearly superior to Stoke City. Despite fielding a competitive lineup, including players like Ben Gibson, Ben Wilmot, Bae Jun-Ho, Lewis Kounas, Million Manhoef, and Tom Cannon, Stoke City failed to deliver the performance expected of them.

Middlesbrough opened the scoring in the 34th minute of the first half with a goal from Ben Doak, which dealt a heavy blow to Stoke City. The team struggled to recover from this setback, and possession remained largely in Middlesbrough's favor.

The match saw several yellow cards, with Stoke City receiving four bookings by the end of the first half and Middlesbrough two, making it a stop-start game filled with fouls and protests. At the start of the second half, Andrew Moran and Sam Gallagher were substituted in after Million Manhoef suffered an injury, which is hopefully not serious.

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Stoke City had a few moments of possession as they sought an equalizer, but Middlesbrough sealed the win with a second goal in the 73rd minute from Hayden Hackney.

This 2-0 defeat leaves Stoke City in a very negative position and marks Narcis Pelach's second loss as manager. It is becoming increasingly clear that there are significant problems with the squad and the direction of the team in this EFL Championship campaign.