Burnley 3-1 Middlesbrough: Manuel Benson scores twice for Championship leaders

Manuel Benson's brace against Middlesbrough took his tally to six goals successful his past 8 Championship appearances

Manuel Benson scored doubly arsenic Burnley came from down to bushed Middlesbrough and widen their pb astatine the apical of the Championship to six points.

Defeat astatine Turf Moor brought to an extremity Michael Carrick's tally of 4 wins and a gully successful Boro's past 5 games, aft they had taken a daze pb against the tally of play successful the 49th minute.

Clarets winger Benson, trying to support the shot successful play connected halfway, succeeded lone successful hooking it backmost towards his ain extremity and, with the Burnley defence caught square, Duncan Watmore, a half-time substitute, ran wide to tuck the shot past Aro Muric.

• Relive Saturday's EFL action

Belgium Under-21 winger Benson made up for his mistake with 2 goals successful 7 minutes to springiness the Clarets the lead.

He chopped wrong Boro near backmost Ryan Giles to occurrence successful a left-footed changeable which bushed Zack Steffen astatine his adjacent post.

His 2nd extremity - and seventh of the play - was adjacent much embarrassing for the United States planetary goalkeeper arsenic Benson drifted successful a transverse from wide connected the right.

With 2 Burnley players attacking the ball, Steffen was distracted and remained rooted to the spot arsenic the shot bounced into his nett disconnected the acold post.

Burnley made definite their unbeaten location grounds stayed intact erstwhile Josh Brownhill curved a country to the adjacent post, wherever it glanced successful disconnected the caput of Boro midfielder Jonny Howson for an ain goal.

Boro seemed to person been fixed a lifeline successful the 90th infinitesimal erstwhile Connor Roberts was adjudged to person handled connected the goal-line arsenic Chuba Akpom's header bounced down disconnected the bar.

That earned the Wales planetary a reddish paper and gave the visitors a penalty, but Akpom's spot-kick was saved by Muric, diving debased to his right.

Middlesbrough brag Michael Carrick told BBC Radio Tees:

"I'm bitterly disappointed and frustrated, and I consciousness for the boys due to the fact that I thought for ample parts of the crippled they stuck to their task and frustrated them for agelong spells.

"We enactment ourselves successful a large presumption due to the fact that of the mode we defended for agelong spells. I accidental 'defended' but I felt we really controlled a batch of it without the ball. You don't ever person to person the shot to power it.

"We had them successful areas we were comfy with for agelong spells successful the archetypal half, and past went 1-0 up, and past had a infinitesimal wherever it was either a punishment oregon a free-kick close connected the borderline of their container erstwhile Chuba [Akpom] was brought down was a immense infinitesimal for us.

"I was told it was minimal interaction but erstwhile you're successful that presumption and successful power of the shot arsenic Chuba was, to support the shot arsenic you were taught arsenic a kid, and if a defender brings you down you expect a free-kick oregon a penalty.

"Their archetypal extremity was a bully decorativeness but was avoidable successful presumption of knowing what his (Benson's) spot is, arsenic we privation to amusement him distant from that area. Then an inswinging transverse - the information with inswinging crosses adjacent if cipher touches it it tin inactive spell successful - but again knowing it was connected his near ft we had to amusement him distant from that.

"Just a shame astatine the extremity we didn't person that accidental precocious connected to person a close spell for the past 5 minutes due to the fact that it would person been truly absorbing if the punishment had gone in."