Middlesbro - 2 Norwich - 0: Middlesbrough rounded off 2004 - the best year in the club's history - in the appropriate style yesterday.
In front of the biggest-ever attendance at the Riverside - 34,836 - Boro were tight defensively, durable in midfield, sparky in attack and overall victorious. Another victory puts them in fifth place in the league table, sandwiched between Liverpool, who have one point less, and Everton and Manchester United, both five points ahead.
Next Saturday, Alex Ferguson's players will encounter a Boro side who have lost just twice in the league since September and are on course for a club record number of Premiership points, as well as a possible Champions League place.
The latter remains an optimistic target, though there was serious cheering when news of Everton's defeat at Charlton was announced.
Boro are now five points behind Everton and the two meet here in two weeks. In between United and Everton, it is Chelsea for Boro and so Steve McClaren was especially pleased these points were in the bank.
"A big win this for us, big three points," McClaren said. "After (losing at) Birmingham and wanting to finish the year on a high, this was the biggest game of the season so far."
Even missing the likes of Ugo Ehiogu, George Boateng and Mark Viduka, and with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink enduring his worst afternoon in a red shirt, Middlesbrough were simply too strong for Norwich City.
The visitors were reliant on Boro's slapdash first-half performance to go in level at the interval, but once Hasselbaink's partner Joseph-Desire Job found the same wavelength as those supplying the passes forward, the Cameroon international scored twice in little over 60 seconds, eight minutes after half-time.
Norwich now slip back into the bottom three due to Crystal Palace's point at Tottenham and Norwich's large and boisterous support have yet to see an away win in the Premiership. They get an 11th chance at Portsmouth on New Year's Day.
Norwich manager Nigel Worthington was terse afterwards, blaming the goals on "two moments of madness. We switched off. The game is for 90 minutes, not 88."
The first goal came through a Stewart Downing-Job combination, Downing floating a free-kick to the far post where, unmarked, Job stabbed the ball past the stranded Rob Green.
Norwich needed to stabilise, but instead lost possession from the kick-off and Franck Queudrue sent Job racing free of the visitors' back four. Green came out to narrow the angle but Job poked the ball through his legs.
The contest was over there and then and though Mark Schwarzer made a late block from Leon McKenzie, Norwich learned afresh that this is an unforgiving division.
MIDDLESBROUGH: Schwarzer, Reiziger, Southgate, Cooper, Queudrue, Nemeth (Morrison 78), Parlour, Zenden, Downing, Hasselbaink, Job. Subs Not Used: Nash, Doriva, Davies, McMahon. Booked: Zenden. Goals: Job 52, 54.
NORWICH: Green, Edworthy, Fleming, Doherty, Drury, Bentley, Helveg (Brennan 12), Jarvis (Crow 74), Mulryne, Huckerby, McKenzie. Subs Not Used: McVeigh, Shackell, Gallacher. Booked: Drury.
Referee: H Webb (S Yorkshire).
