Monday 27 October 2014 10:19, UK
Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka was beaming after a deserved 1-1 draw at home to high-flying Watford.
The Teessiders were unlucky not to have bagged all three points after dominating their visitors for most of the game.
Kike's 49th-minute goal was timely for Boro as it gave them something to show for a strong spell either side of the interval, but their lead was short lived as Watford equalised through Troy Deeney 13 minutes later.
Karanka said: "I'm very happy. It was one of our better games since I arrived at the club and we played very well against one of the best teams in this division.
"If football was fair, we would have won 4-0 because in the first half we were very good and had so many chances. If we had taken them, the game would have been completely different.
"When you don't score your motivation can go down, but we kept working in the same way in the second half and got our goal.
"But when you don't finish off the game against one of the best teams in this league, you can have problems.
"But I still think the players were brilliant today and the performance is the most important thing.
"If you don't win this type of game, it's very important that you don't lose."
Boro were well on top until Watford boss Slavisa Jokanovic changed this around three minutes after Boro's opening goal by sending on Deeney.
The forward drew Watford level with a well-taken finish less than 10 minutes later.
Jovanovic said: "I expected a little bit more from my players, but I can be happy with the result. It is not easy to get one point at this stadium.
"We started the game without energy and had many problems in the first-half, but we improved after Middlesbrough scored and started to play.
"We had chances to win it, but a draw was probably right."
Watford's first problem of the afternoon came before kick-off when goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes pulled up in the pre-match warm-up and had to be replaced by England Under-21 international Jonathan Bond.
And Bond was the busier of the two 'keepers in the first half.
Patrick Bamford was denied twice as Watford struggled to cope with Boro's attacking formation.
And Karanka's men started the second half as they left the first and took the lead within four minutes of the re-start, when Kike lashed in his fifth league goal of the season.
It forced Jovanovic's hand and Deeney's arrival was a game-changer, with the 26-year-old forward scoring on only his second substitute appearance after recovering from a month-long hamstring injury lay-off.
"Troy is an important guy for us," added Jovanovic. "He gives us so much in a physical game like this when there were so many challenges and tackles.
"We have used him as a sub in the last three games and he will soon be starting."
