Boro well beaten at Blackpool

Nathan Delfouneso enjoyed a full debut to remember as Blackpool stormed past Middlesbrough with a 4-1 victory.

The on-loan Aston Villa striker netted twice in the first half before laying on in-form winger Tom Ince to coolly finish 10 minutes after the interval. By that point Andre Amougou had headed home to hand Boro a lifeline, but Tony Mowbray's side were second best for long periods as they fell to a third consecutive away loss. Blackpool substitute Elliot Grandin was brought down by Bikey and rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot, despite Delfouneso being on the pitch to claim a hat-trick denied to him by the linesman's flag moments earlier. Delfouneso sprung the Boro defence to collect Gary Taylor-Fletcher's pass and slide home the opener and he then side-footed in from Tom Ince's pass to give the scoreline a more deserving slant. A flurry of pressure brought Middlesbrough back into the game as the interval approached. Josh McEachran's corner was met by Amougou and struck the crossbar via a clip off defensive colleague George Friend. Blackpool failed to completely clear their lines and, when Leadbitter put the ball back into the box, Amougou made no mistake. The Seasiders restored their two-goal advantage when, played in by Delfouneso, Ince calmly rounded Jason Steele to finish. Delfouneso stooped to head home Grandin's cross-come-shot, only for the celebrations to be cut short by the linesman's flag, before the latter added gloss to the scoreline four minutes from time.