Middlesbrough maintained their 100 per cent record under new head coach Kim Hellberg with an impressive 2-1 victory at Charlton.

Riley McGree and Morgan Whittaker scored during a dominant first half for the visitors at the Valley.

George Edmundson's own goal halved the deficit in the closing stages, but second-placed Boro held on to make it three straight wins under the Swede as they closed the gap to leaders Coventry to five points.

There was a minute's applause before kick off in memory of Charlton supporter Norman Barker, who passed away during Saturday's abandoned home game against Portsmouth.

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Only some big saves by Thomas Kaminski prevented the Addicks from trailing by more than two goals at the interval.

The Charlton goalkeeper pushed Hayden Hackney's shot around a post in the fourth minute before he produced another strong save shortly afterwards to keep out Alex Bangura's attempt.

Kaminski again came to the hosts' rescue in the 33rd minute as he saved Tommy Conway's shot with his legs.

The reprieve proved temporary as moments later Middlesbrough went 1-0 ahead. Macaulay Gillesphey and Sonny Carey contrived to lose the ball just outside the Charlton penalty area and Delano Burgzorg's sharp cutback was finished first time by McGree.

Charlton had a penalty appeal waved away by referee Oliver Langford when Luke Berry went down as he looked to squeeze between Matt Targett and Alfie Jones when latching on to Miles Leaburn's flick.

Boro extended their lead in the third minute of first-half stoppage time as Whittaker fired through the legs of Kaminski from McGree's pass after the visitors countered in devastating fashion.

Charlton manager Nathan Jones made a triple change at the start of the second half, but they still lacked composure as their opponents carried a huge threat on the counter.

Karoy Anderson, one of the changes made by the south Londoners, was dispossessed by Hackney and it needed Kaminski to stop McGree's shot with his outstretched left foot in the 53rd minute.

Boro goalkeeper Sol Brynn tipped over a fierce strike by Isaac Olaofe, the first real testing moment he had faced.

The away side came close to a third when substitute Luke Ayling's header clipped the top of the crossbar from Sverre Nypan's cross.

Charlton pulled a goal back in the 81st minute, Edmundson guiding Rob Apter's cross into his own net.

Olaofe had a late chance but could only steer his shot wide of the right post as the Addicks suffered a fifth straight Sky Bet Championship loss.

The managers

Charlton's Nathan Jones:

"One, we want people to come back from injury and two, we want the window to come really quickly. But we also have to be better.

"We tried to find a way to be aggressive and front-footed, we were, but every time we had a decision to make we made poor decisions. They had two counter-attacks and scored them both - we had them and didn't.

"We should have had a penalty.

"They broke and scored what is a killer goal so that we are chasing a 2-0 lead. If it's only one we equalise and I fancy us to go on and win the game. They defended fantastically late on."

Middlesbrough's Kim Hellberg

"No, it is not (easy). But I luckily have a very good squad and a lot of very good people around me. It is small margins, winning or losing games. The way we have performed over those three games we have been the best team.

"It was a very good performance, especially the first half. We should have scored some more goals - we had some brilliant crosses by Bangs (Alex Bangura) that we were close to getting on. We had two or three more big chances. Then we showed character in closing the game down in the second half.

"I'm most proud of Morgan (Whittaker) for the first goal when he lost the ball and did a very good reaction to win it back for us. That becomes a key thing for us not to let them come on the counters.

"Then every time he has a chance to finish he has top quality.

"The mood is good. The players are happy and have a lot of energy."

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