Why Middlesbrough's goal blitz is no surprise to Michael Carrick
Emmanuel Latte Lath netted a 12-minute hat-trick and Finn Azaz scored twice in the rout as Carrick’s men recorded a third successive haul of four goals or more for the first time since 1947.
Carrick said: “It’s just really enjoyable watching them perform at the moment, seeing them express themselves and getting their rewards for it.
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Hide Ad“Emmanuel has found his stride – he’s showing that extra bit of sharpness, that zip that he’s showing us he’s got.


“I’m delighted for Manny and for Delano (Burgzorg) who played really well, Ben Doak’s playing well, Finn Azaz is dangerous, Riley McGree and Tommy Conway are coming on and making a difference.
“Ben is going to be a marked man now and he’s going to have to deal with it.
“I thought it wasn’t a great tackle on him for the penalty – it could have been a red card – but I’m not going to complain about it, luckily he’s all right.
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Hide Ad“We know what the boys are capable of and it’s exciting, there’s no getting away from it.
“But I don’t feel any different to earlier in the season because that’s what we’ve been threatening to do with a lot of the good work.
“The boys are capitalising on it now and we’ve got to keep building on it and the confidence, there’s obviously a lot of good signs.”
Oxford Utd: Cumming, Long, Moore (Placheta 53), Brown, ter Avest, Vaulks (El Mizouni 73), Brannagan (McEachran 73), Leigh, Rodrigues (Phillips 64), Goodrham, Harris (Scarlett 52). Unused substitutes: Ingram, Dale, Goodwin, Ferdinan.
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Hide AdMiddlesbrough: Brynn, Ayling (Dijksteel 85), Edmundson, Clarke, Borges, Howson, Barlaser, Doak (Forss 62), Azaz (Hamilton 85), Burgzorg (McGree 75), Latte Lath (Conway 62). Unused substitutes: Glover, Fry, Jones, McCabe.
Referee: J Smith (Lincolnshire).