Carabao Cup: Will Lankshear strike sees Middlesbrough past Wrexham as Wolves beat Port Vale and Stevenage edge Wycombe
Middlesbrough secured a 1-0 victory over Wrexham in the first round of the Carabao Cup thanks to a debut goal from Will Lankshear. Other matches saw Wolves defeat Port Vale and Stevenage narrowly beat Wycombe.
Why it matters
The Carabao Cup is a significant domestic football tournament in the UK, and early-round results impact the season trajectory for lower-league and championship clubs.
Will Lankshear's debut strike ensured Middlesbrough made a winning start to the season as they beat Wrexham 1-0 in the Carabao Cup first round. <p>Lankshear, a £10m summer signing from Tottenham, scored the only goal of the game in the 61st minute as he hooked home an excellent first-time volley.</p><p>Middlesbrough almost claimed a seventh-minute opener, but while Adilson Malanda prodded Sebastian Berhalter's cross goalwards from close range, Danny Ward kept the ball out with a superb point-blank save.</p><p>Danny Imray wasted a decent chance for Wrexham when he failed to make a proper connection from Callum Doyle's cross, and the visitors went close again six minutes before the break when Sam Smith fired a low shot into the legs of Sol Brynn after he was rolled into space by Nathan Broadhead.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13570285/carabao-cup-2026-27-west-ham-burnley-and-leicester-all-in-first-round-action-live-on-sky-sports"><strong>Carabao Cup: Watch any of 29 first-round ties on Saturday</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/efl-article-referral" target="_blank"><strong>Got Sky?
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