Massimo the quick learner

13 April 2012

It was supposed to take Italy striker Massimo Maccarone time to settle on Teesside so he could grow into his role as Middlesbrough's record signing. The weight of expectation on forwards who have followed in Fabrizio Ravanelli's footsteps to the Riverside can be too much for some players.

And £8.5million Maccarone has only to ask Szilard Nemeth. Last night the pair combined with embarrassing ease to give Boro three goals and three points from the Wear-Tees derby and bring a poor Sunderland side crashing down to earth.

Maccarone, 22, has scored three goals in three home games, and the two struck last night by Nemeth perhaps signals that his career at Boro can finally take off.

Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren said: 'Nemeth was excellent in our first game and then got injured, but once he was fit I had no hesitation in bringing him in. I told him all along to be ready when his opportunity came and he took it. He was tremendous and very sharp to get the first one. Massimo put in an all-action centre-forward display. He's always on the move, he's strong, tough, quick and showed he can set others up as well as score.'

It was a thoroughly miserable reminder of the task still facing Peter Reid, who knows he will be without Kevin Phillips for up to six weeks after a hernia operation. His team-mates will have to improve their game drastically in his absence on this showing.

The Sunderland manager said: 'We made a quick decision about the surgery and Kevin is pleased with it. I felt it was fair to him, after he carried on through a lot of pain last season, to get it done, particularly with the players we've brought in.'

Middlesbrough, too, were without their leading striker, with Alen Boksic on bench duty again as he endures yet another niggling injury, this time the thigh strain which kept him out of international duty at the weekend.

Overpaid, overstretched and over here, the 32-year-old Croat is edging closer to becoming surplus to requirements at the Riverside. But Maccarone and Nemeth provided McClaren with the evidence, and more importantly, the goals to show they are ready to take his place.

Maccarone has still to master the English language. He does, however, know exactly where the goal is and his single-minded determination to add to the two he scored against Fulham on his home debut brought Middlesbrough's opening goal.

It also owed a great deal to another inexcusable error from Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, who handed the early initiative to England against Denmark during the World Cup in Japan.

He spilled Maccarone's long-range effort after 13 minutes last night and Nemeth, reacting quickest to the awkward shot, beat the Sunderland defence to volley the rebound home.

Boro's second came eight minutes before half-time, with Reid's £10m strike pairing of Tore Andre Flo and Marcus Stewart struggling against Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu.

Even those Sunderland players who have impressed so far this season struggled and Stephen Wright was the guilty man for that second goal when he allowed Maccarone to meet Franck Queudrue's teasing left-foot free-kick.

The visitors, Matthew Piper aside, reverted to bad old habits. Reid is just hoping this performance was a blip which will not overshadow earlier promising showings against Leeds and Manchester United.

He said: 'We were beaten too easily and we allowed them to boss us up front, which is disappointing. Maccarone looked a handful and strong but we made it easier for him.'

Inevitably there was improvement from Reid's side after his half-time team talk but for all the running of Piper, Jason McAteer and American Claudio Reyna they failed to trouble Mark Schwarzer seriously.

The third Boro goal arrived during Sunderland's best spell of the game, but with Joachim Bjorklund caught upfield trying to create an opening, Michael Gray was left exposed by Maccarone's excellent through-ball, which allowed Nemeth to chip over Sorensen neatly for his second of the night and the season.

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David Jones (Footballer)

Massimo the quick learner

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