Michael Carrick picks out the player who 'epitomised' Middlesbrough's victory at West Brom

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick
-Credit: (Image: MI News/NurPhoto)


Michael Carrick described Rav van den Berg as epitomising Middlesbrough's maturity and composure to win at West Brom.

Boro beat the league leaders at the Hawthorns thanks to Hayden Hackney's second-half goal - that the first the Baggies had conceded on home turf all season. But just as important to Boro's victory was a solid defensive display as they picked up back-to-back clean sheets on top of consecutive wins to climb into the top six.

At the heart of that defensive performance was teenage defender Van den Berg who was back in the starting line-up for the first time since picking up an injury in the second game of the season away at Derby County. Playing alongside George Edmundson for the first time, the pair dealt with everything Carlos Corberan's side threw at them.

SUBSCRIBE: Click here to subscribe to Teesside Live's Boro newsletter

Carrick said after: "Credit to Rav, he’s not played a lot of football and not done a lot of training, to be honest with you. He came in and probably epitomised that maturity and composure that set through the team. George was magnificent next to him – they looked like they’d played together for quite some time as a whole unit, which I was quite pleased about.

“I thought it went through the team. The slightly more experienced players seem to have rubbed off on the younger players, and now the younger players aren’t fresh. They’ve had a bit of experience themselves and I thought that showed. There was a really good belief and level of understanding of what it takes to win these types of games. That pleased me as much as anything else."

Not to the surprise of the Boro boss, the game was a tight one against two good sides expected to be challenging at the top end of the Championship this season. Though West Brom threatened at times on the counter, Boro limited them to just one shot on target, and in general had the better chances throughout as they left the Black Country good value for their three points.

“I’m really pleased," Carrick said on the game overall. "It had the feel of a real, proper game about it tonight. Not that others don’t, but this one had a bit of an extra edge coming here. It’s a tough place to come, we haven’t had much success over the couple of years I’ve been here.

"They’re a good team and they’re going to be in and around the top of the league at the end of the season because they’ve got experienced players and knowhow. We knew we had to be at our best, and I thought we were, in many ways. All over the pitch, I was delighted with them, more so with the maturity and composure than anything else.

"In the first ten minutes, I thought we took control of it and took the game by the scruff of the neck. We diffused the emotion and energy in the stadium, and then in the last ten minutes I thought we managed the game really well. The subs came on and were terrific, they had a massive impact for us when we needed it.

“It was a tight game, which you’d expect, and the teams showed a lot of respect to each other. But I thought we looked dangerous. We had chances early on, and through the game, we kept having moments where I thought we could get the goal. When it came, it was a fantastic goal, and I thought the lads got the reward for all their good play."