Isaiah Jones ended a run of seven matches without a goal by scoring twice to help Middlesbrough to a 4-0 win over Preston at the Riverside.
North End looked like a team that has won just two of their last 11 matches rather than one that started the night sixth in the Sky Bet Championship, as Middlesbrough cruised into a three-goal lead at the break.
Jones’ fourth and fifth goals of the season in the 16th and 37th minutes sandwiched Rav van den Berg’s first senior goal in the 26th minute to put Michael Carrick’s side well on track for their biggest home win of the season so far.
And deep in stoppage-time summer signing Alex Bangura cut inside his man to curl in the fourth to cap a miserable night for the visitors.
Despite losing Dael Fry at the heart of the defence, Boro were untroubled largely throughout the first half. The man who replaced him in the middle did the job at both ends.
Van den Berg, who has played right-back following his arrival from FC Zwolle, had been largely untested but was a calming influence on the ball in the opening exchanges.
That helped to lay the foundations for the opener. His central defensive partner Paddy McNair was involved in the move along with Jonny Howson and Dan Barlaser before Matt Crooks received possession 22 yards from goal. Rather than shoot, Crooks rolled a pass into the path of Jones for him to control and finish calmly at a time when the game was in need of some goalmouth quality.
It was 2-0 10 minutes later. Van den Berg coasted in at the back to meet Barlaser’s corner and, despite failing to head, the ball bounced off the defender’s chest and beat goalkeeper Freddie Woodman once more.
After a couple of tame Preston attempts to close the deficit, Middlesbrough extended their advantage eight minutes before half-time.
This time Morgan Rogers played in Jones and the winger lifted a lovely finish above and beyond Woodman.
Woodman had to make two big saves before the break to prevent Jones from grabbing a first half hat-trick and stop Rogers finding the target.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe’s frustrations were clear. He took Milutin Osmajic and Will Keane off and replaced them with Ched Evans and Calvin Ramsey at the start of the second half in a bid to make a fight of it.
But Boro, who climb to ninth with this victory, forced Woodman into another strong save to his left after a good move created an opening for Rogers.
The keeper also saved from Emmanuel Latte Lath before Bangura completed the scoring in the fourth minute of added time to wrap up a routine win for Boro.
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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