Here is Samuel Seaman's verdict on Norwich City, who dominated at Middlesbrough before Borja Sainz's red card led to a 3-1 defeat.

Angus Gunn

Not much he could have done about any of the Middlesbrough goals, with defensive chaos allowing Marcus Forss and Emmanuel Latte Lath the freedom of the Norwich area for their respective strikes before Lukas Engels provided an unerring cherry on the miserable visiting cake.

Dealt well with set-pieces when given the opportunity to. Forced to go long with his distribution by the red card. 6

Jack Stacey

Less involved than he usually is, with City's most promising attacks tending to come from their left-hand side and Dimitris Giannoulis. David Wagner opted to tuck him in when his side were looking to hold onto a result, which meant he did very different defending to what he's used to. Outdone at times on the wing. 4

Grant Hanley

Started well but quickly faded and didn't have the reactions to deal with pinballing attacks as Boro smelt blood in the first half.

Spoke recently about the need to improve his match sharpness, and that was evident here. Limped off with injury midway through the second half. 4

Ben Gibson  

A fairly solid showing against his former side, especially considering the situation he and his team-mates were put in by the red card.

Won numerous aerial battles and had the Canaries' only second-half shot on target when he met Marcelino Nunez' free-kick. Should have reacted quicker when Latte Lath controlled for the second goal, however. 6

Dimitris Giannoulis  

A roaming source of danger in the first half as he outstripped his opposite number and whipped fierce balls into the box, chiefly his precise one for Ashley Barnes to turn goalward.

Some good defensive work on the cover, contrasting the typically lauded side of his game. Multiple key clearances, but the game-sealing cross did come from his side. 7

Kenny McLean  

The starting point for the majority of City's attacks in their fervent first half period, and worked tirelessly to get them back into the game when they went behind.

Little he could do, however, as could be said of any member of this side. Wasted one opportunity to break away with a poor touch. 6

Gabriel Sara

Produced the moment of quality that broke the deadlock and should really have opened the floodgates for a comfortable away victory and play-off place residence.

But his role changed after the sending off, and he was limited to desperate defensive interventions. 6

Christian Fassnacht  

Worked as hard as he could to keep Middlesbrough out, but was left with a lot of defending to do when Wagner switched to a narrow back four and tasked him with stopping crosses from the hosts' left. Outnumbered on several occasions before being substituted at half time. 5

Ashley Barnes  

The opener was his fourth shot, but as the cliché goes, it's better to have chances and miss them than to have none at all.

Made his own luck, to coin another well-worn phrase, before scraping his goal past Semi Dieng. Provided a threat in behind early on, but was out of the game after half an hour. 6

Borja Sainz  

Hard to find the words to describe how big his red card could be in the context of City's season.

Not only likely rules him out for four games in the midst of a wide-man injury crisis, but took a cruising evening and turned it into a wasted opportunity.

Whether or not it was the right decision will continue to be debated, but the fact remains that he gave Bobby Madley one to make and can have no complaints after his second transgression of the sort this season. An inexplicable moment of madness. 2

Josh Sargent  

Ran hard and helped create opportunities for Barnes with his movement, but lacked the quality and decisiveness he's shown on the ball this season.

A thankless task feeding on the scraps he was provided for more than 60 minutes, however, so tough to criticise too much. 5

SUBSTITUTES

Marcelino Nunez

Got things moving and showed calm on the ball when Norwich needed to make the most of the little possession they had in the second half.

Tidy when he got the chance and a good set-piece deliverer, but didn't have much opportunity in the low block. 6

Jacob Sorensen

Did some solid defending when called upon and shepherded plenty of danger away, but the game was already gone when he was introduced. 6

Liam Gibbs  

Similarly to the rest of the substitutes, did plenty of running but very little with the ball. 5

Sydney van Hooijdonk  

Few memorable involvements other than a smart pass to get out of a tricky position and a lay-off when he had time to turn and set a counter-attack in motion. 5

Finley Welch  

Good to see an academy product make his first-team debut. 5