Riverside finishing sank Charlton, who barely created a chance

Middlesbrough beat Charlton at the Riverside by turning chances that were no better than usual into goals, while Charlton's attack barely showed.

Sebastian Berhalter opened the scoring in the twelfth minute, and Will Lankshear doubled the lead just before half-time. Lankshear struck again late on, and by then Charlton had little left to chase. The first half settled the contest, so the figures that follow are more useful than the scoreline for seeing why it went that way.

Middlesbrough had 59% of the ball, which is exactly what they usually have, so possession tells us nothing unusual. Their shot count was a different story. They took 16 shots against a usual 19.1, which means they were less busy in front of goal than normal, and the goals came from fewer attempts rather than more.

Expected goals is a rough measure of how clear each chance was, where a value of 1 would mean a near-certain goal. By that measure Middlesbrough's chances came to 1.63, below their usual 2.2, so the chances were worse than normal. Yet they scored more than their average of 2.4, which means the finishing outran the chances and that gap decided the match.

Charlton had 41% of the ball, a little under their usual 43.5%, and took seven shots against a usual 10.1. Not one of them was on target, and their expected goals of 0.42 sat well under their usual 1.27. Their attack produced no shot on target at all, which is the plainest way to see how little they threatened. Middlesbrough, for their part, put half of their shots on target into the net.

Set against the league as a whole, Middlesbrough's shot count was above the average of 13.2 per side, while Charlton's totals were well under the usual 13.2 shots and 1.39 expected goals. The match total was close to the league's normal 2.9 goals per game, so the scoreline itself was ordinary even if the story beneath it was not. Nobody should mistake it for a high-scoring thriller.

Berhalter was the most involved player on the pitch. He scored, set up Lankshear's first goal and made six key passes, the ones that lead directly to a shot. His rating of 9 was the best of any player named here. Lankshear's two goals came from five shots, three of them on target, and that accuracy was the difference between a scrappy afternoon and a comfortable one.

Middlesbrough now top the table with 25 points from 12 games, while Charlton sit 20th on 14 points.

Player of the matchS. Berhalter1 goal · 1 assist9.0

W. Lankshear2 goals8.9

A. Cozier-Duberry1 assist7.7

C. Brittain2 chances created7.6