NORWICH (3-4-2-1):
Kovacevic 5; Medic 4, Darling 4, Cordoba 5 (Schlupp 80); Stacey 6 (Fisher 52, 5), Topic 4, Wright 3, DIALLO 6 (Kvistgaarden 80); Crnac 4 (Schwartau 67, 5), Marcondes 4 (McLean 67, 5); Sargent 6.
Subs (not used): Grimshaw (gk), Gibbs, Jurasek, Chrisene.
MIDDLESBROUGH (3-4-2-1):
7 Brynn: Didn’t have many saves to make and didn’t have a chance with Sargent’s chipped goal
8 Ayling: Rock solid on the right of Boro’s back three – covered for the players on either side of him when required
8 Fry: Excellent at the heart of the Boro defence, winning headers and blocking a number of attempted forward passes
7 Jones: Another solid display from the defender, who has made an excellent start to life at Boro
7 Brittain: Defensively solid down Boro’s right-hand side and tried to get forward when possible
9 MORRIS: Superb at the heart of midfield, shutting down Norwich’s midfielders and driving the ball forward
8 Hackney: Ran the game alongside Morris, gliding forward with the ball and picking passes through the Norwich defence
5 Silvera: Struggled positionally on a number of occasions and was at fault as Sargent scored Norwich’s goal
7 Whittaker: Was moved forward to form a two-man attack in the first half and buzzed around productively in the final third
6 Azaz: Wasted a couple of first-half openings with poor passes, but made amends when he rifled home the opener
7 Conway: Linked effectively with those around him and lost his marker completely as he scored Boro’s second goal
Subs:
6 Hansen (for Whittaker, 67): His pace troubled the Norwich backline, but he failed to hold on to the ball well enough
6 Burgzorg (for Conway, 67): Didn’t make the most of a couple of dangerous breaks beyond the Norwich defence
Nypan (for Azaz, 72)
Borges (for Silvera, 90)
(not used): Glover (gk), Edmundson, Kante, Barlaser, McCabe.
Man Of The Match: AIDAN MORRIS – His aggressive pressing set the tone for Boro’s display and he was the architect of his side’s second goal.
