Aitor Karanka delighted with Boro win against 'very good' Brighton side

Brighton boss Oscar Garcia less than pleased with his side’s performance and admits the missed penalty was a blow

Boro head coach Aitor Karanka saw his side win at Brighton yesterday then expressed his delight at the strides the club are making since he took over.

Second-half goals from Albert Adomah and Danny Graham secured the points for Boro.

And afterwards Spaniard Karanka said: “It’s my first season in English football and I’m very happy because everything is new to me.

“The potential is such that we have to work together to do the best. We have a good attitude and will be working to improve the squad in time.”

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Brighton v Boro match action

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Karanka refused to single this out as one of Boro’s best performances, saying: “We have played a lot of games in recent times and played well but haven’t won.

“We created some good chances in the first half and didn’t let Brighton play.

“We are playing in a very high tempo and deserved a slice of luck when Brighton missed their penalty.”

This was Boro’s 12th clean sheet in their last 19 games and Karanka felt his men were fully deserving of their first win in seven away games.

He said: “I am very happy that we won, playing against a very good team. We had a lot of the ball and we knew we needed to go for the game.”

Brighton boss Oscar Garcia, however, was less than pleased with his side’s performance, and neither were the fans with the side booed off at half-time when the scores were level.

The Seagulls boss, whose side missed a penalty while trailing 1-0, said: “We’re making mistakes at the back and we are being punished.

“The problem is we are not punishing the opposition ourselves and now these are the kind of things that are making the difference.

“We started slowly, were the better side in the second half but they went in front and then missing a penalty was a blow. Their second goal was a killer.”

As for the boos from the home fans at the interval, he added: “I didn’t hear it.

“I am first to the dressing room. It’s normal. If they are not happy, they can do this.”