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By Anthony Nlebem.
Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick has praised Nigeria-eligible player Chuba Akpom for his exceptional goal record.
Akpom scored twice in Middlesbrough’s 5-0 win over Readings in the English Championship fixture on Saturday at the RiverSide Stadium.
The 27-year-old forward opened the scoring for the hosts from the spot in the 24th minute and added his second three minutes after the restart.
Aaron Ramsey also scored a brace for Middlesbrough, while Marcus Forss added the third goal.
The Arsenal academy has now scored 21 goals in 28 matches in the Championship this season and becomes the first Boro player to score 20 goals plus in a single season.
The 41-year-old tactician described Akpom as a terrific player and hopes he does more.
“It’s a terrific achievement. It’s not easy to score that many goals,” Carrick said in his post-match speech.
“He’s scored all different types of goals for us since I’ve been here. I thought his performance was fantastic.
“He gets credit for his goals but his all-round performance was terrific.
“And because we have threats in different areas, he ends up getting a bit more space.
“To score that many goals, hopefully, he can carry on and set a new target for himself”, he told the club media.”
The former Arsenal youth player Akpom will be hoping to add to his goals when Boro battle Swansea on Saturday.
The former Manchester United star also praised his team’s impressive performance to boost their promotion hopes.
“It’s a great day for the whole team and I was delighted with the attitude all week.
“I thought the threats we had all day were a really good mix and it was one of those days when pretty much everyone had a good day.
“There was a period in the first half when it was tight and we had to be compact as a team but we were terrific in the second half.”
The win moved Boro to third on the Championship table with 60 points from 35 matches, four points behind Sheffield United as the team continued to chase promotion to play in the English Premier League next season.