Michael Carrick hails 'ruthless' Middlesbrough in emphatic Norwich City win

Aaron Ramsey celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Sky Bet Championship between Middlesbrough and Norwich City at Riverside. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Boro cruised to a comfortable home win over the Canaries after racing into three goal lead before half-time.

Former Norwich man Aaron Ramsay opened the scoring before Hayden Hackney produced an excellent first time finish to double the lead four minutes before the break after Darragh Lenihan had seen a goal ruled out for offside.

David Wagner’s side protested Hackney’s goal with Sam McCallum down injured inside Boro's half, as play continued.

Chuba Akpom continued his fine form in front of goal for Middlesbrough against Norwich City. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

But as the Canaries continued to feel aggrieved, Boro found the back of the net again through Cameron Archer who added a quickfire third when finishing well from Alex Mowatt’s through ball with Norwich all at sea defensively.

The first half still had plenty of mileage in front of goal, however, as Wagner’s side grabbed a foothold in the game through Josh Sargent after the American capitalised on an error from Paddy McNair.

But a frantic finale to the first half ended with Boro restoring their three goal lead as Archer grabbed his second of the game in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

'Excellent': Middlesbrough player rating photos after Cameron Archer double in N...

Boro added a fifth early in the second half with the Championship’s leading scorer Chuba Akpom getting in on the act when converting from close range as Carrick’s side moved ahead of Luton Town into third place on goal difference ahead of the Hatters’ trip to Rotherham United on Saturday.

And Carrick was keen to praise his side’s cutting edge in front of goal with Boro now, temporarily, the league’s leading scorers with 79 goals.

"It's a great result. The goals were clinical and it was a ruthless performance more than anything,” Carrick told BBC Radio Tees.

"We looked dangerous in spells which was great to see. The boys took confidence from the fact we hadn't had a result but the performances have been there.

"I thought we got the balance right, we defended generally pretty well and we looked good at the other end.

"When we hit a patch in games, similar to the other day [against Bristol City], we can look dangerous and can score goals from anywhere. It just shows the quality of the boys."