Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka concedes that his side were not at their best during their 3-0 win over Leeds United, but has credited the Whites for making the game a tough one.
In front of the home fans Boro took the lead with just minutes on the clock when David Nugent took advantage of a poor Giuseppe Bellusci clearance to open the scoring.
Bellusci then amazingly headed a cross into the back of his side's net after the half hour mark, despite no Middlesbrough player challenging him.
Leeds rallied in the opening stages of the second half and saw a Mirco Antenucci goal ruled out, but Uwe Rosler's men were then killed off when Sol Bamba slipped and allowed Diego Fabbrini to round Marco Silvestri and score Boro's third in the 81st minute.
Karanka accepts the 3-0 scoreline flattered his team, though is happy just to win when they were operating far from their best.
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"I'm proud of my players. Once again they fought until the end, it was a tough game", he said via his club's site.
"Maybe 3-0 wasn't a reflection. It was good to score early and it’s another three points. The aim is to play as we are, fight for every point and the main thing for our fans are our home points.
"We didn’t play really, really well.
"I said before the game it would be tough, they are a good team with a good manager and we didn’t create a lot of chances", the former Real Madrid assistant boss continued.
"We didn’t play our best, but it was another very important three points."
The win is Middlesbrough's seventh in a row and equals a feat last achieved by the club 20 years ago.
As a result of the victory, Boro sit second in the Championship table with 20 points from nine games, one point behind league leaders Brighton. Leeds meanwhile are 14th.
