MICHAEL CARRICK praised his Middlesbrough side for ruthlessly exploiting their man advantage as they claimed a crucial 3-1 win over Norwich City.

Boro looked in trouble when they trailed to Ashley Barnes’ opener, but the game changed when Borja Sainz was controversially sent off for kicking out at Jonny Howson.

Within 13 minutes of Sainz’ dismissal, Boro had turned a one-goal deficit into a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Marcus Forss and Emmanuel Latte Lath.

Lukas Engel added a third goal in the second half as Carrick’s side claimed a first home win in the league since December and climbed to 12th position in the table, nine points clear of the drop zone and ten points adrift of the top six.

“Obviously, it’s a good result for us,” said the Boro boss. “We needed a win, we needed a result and we needed something to go our way.  We haven’t really had much go our way lately, but obviously the red card was a key moment when we were just starting to find our feet a little bit.

“It was tough at the start of the game, but we dealt with the sending off really well. It’s not always easy to deal with that, playing against ten men. But I thought the boys approached that really well, and the spell before half-time really put the game in our direction.”

While Sainz’s dismissal handed the initiative to Boro, the home side still had to make the most of their numerical advantage, and they did that ruthlessly with Engel and Luke Ayling proving especially effective in the wing-back positions.

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“They did really well with that,” said Carrick. “I thought we were really positive, we stretched it. We created opportunities, and were aggressive and on the front foot. There was a bit of a spark coming back that we probably lacked earlier on in the game.

“It’s not a given. It makes it look like, ‘Oh, it’s ten men, all of a sudden it’ll become an easier game’. But actually, we’ve seen enough over the years to understand that that’s not always that easy. I was really pleased with the way the boys responded and made the most of the situation we found ourselves in.”

With Sainz appearing to make minimal contact as he kicked out at Howson, Norwich boss David Wagner revealed he would be appealing referee Robert Madley’s decision to brandish a straight red card.

“I haven’t seen it back, and I haven’t spoken to Jonny either,” said Carrick. “It is what it is. I’ll see it at some point, but I haven’t seen it back yet.

“Honestly, it didn’t really matter, and the performance didn’t have to be perfect tonight. We just needed to get that feeling back for everyone, and the boys especially. I’m delighted that we managed to do that.”