NORWICH CITY are getting into the habit of frustrating Middlesbrough. Not content with being the team that piled play-off misery on Teesside when they last met at Wembley, they brought an impressive run at the Riverside to an end two years later.

The Canaries, showing the sort of defensive resilience which has now seen them go seven hours and 48 minutes without conceding, inflicted a first defeat on Middlesbrough on a Tuesday in 28 matches to climb level on points with them in the Championship.

James Maddison’s brilliant 12th minute opener, albeit courtesy of a defensive mistake, was enough to separate the two teams and to complete a Tuesday turn-up for the books it was also the first time Garry Monk had lost a league home match in his managerial career.

Middlesbrough pushed and probed in search of the equaliser throughout the second half but, despite finishing with a four-man forward line worth £37m, there was no way past Norwich goalkeeper Angus Gunn.

Hopes were high that the Tuesdays record in the league could be extended, particularly with Adama Traore back from suspension to provide greater pace in attack. Norwich, despite their disappointing August when they lost to Sunderland, didn’t see it like that though.

Daniel Farke’s side clearly felt that records are there to be broken because they never looked like a side with an intention to just accept a point from their long road trip to the North-East. They defended impressively throughout.

And even if Farke’s tactics were based more on counter-attacking it was still enough to cause occasional problems, despite the fact goalkeeper Darren Randolph was only faced with one shot during the entire opening half.

That shot was the opening goal. No matter how many attempts he could have had to try to save it he would have struggled because of the accuracy involved in Maddison’s successful strike inside 12 minutes.

Maddison should never have been presented with the opportunity. Firstly Traore, and Monk, complained the winger had been fouled deep in the Norwich half. From there the visitors attacked down the left.

Young defender Dael Fry, who has been excellent since claiming his place for the second game of the season, lost his composure and was cheaply robbed by Marley Watkins, who in turn rolled into the path of Maddison.

The 20-year-old did the rest by looking up, picking his spot inside Randolph’s top left corner and finding it with a curling right-foot finish that shook the Riverside and left Middlesbrough with an uphill struggle for the third league game in a row.

From that moment on in the first half Middlesbrough saw more of the ball. Norwich hardly got anywhere near Randolph’s area, but there was also a lack of conviction when the red shirts did get closer to Angus Gunn’s box.

The only save Gunn had to make before the break was when he had to dive to his left and comfortably gather a pretty routine effort from 20 yards from Adam Clayton.

There were glimpses of what Traore could offer, while Marvin Johnson looked bright down the left, but Britt Assombalonga was perfectly tracked and dealt with by his markers, Christoph Zimmermann and Timm Klose.

The one chance Assombalonga did get before the break was created by Johnson. The former Oxford winger’s deep cross to the back post after a few tricks down the left could only be headed across the face of goal by the £15m striker and it was cleared.

Monk could have changed things at the break but decided against it. He was left with little alternative though after his players failed to change things immediately after the restart.

In fact Cameron Jerome, a former trialist at Rockliffe Park in his younger days, had the best chance in the early throes of the second half. Randolph, however, was equal to his near post effort after the striker had been put through by Maddison.

After that it was all about what Middlesbrough, with Ashley Fletcher introduced for the more defensively minded Adam Clayton, could conjure up in the final third. On a night when Assombalonga was well marshalled, it was more about what others had to offer.

Traore’s burst into the box and shot stung the palms of Manchester City loanee Gunn, but in reality didn’t test him enough as it was straight into his body and the probing into the Norwich half continued.

There were two more headers for Assombalonga when he did finally work his way free of a yellow shirt. Both times he nodded straight into the arms of Gunn, and the second of those was a glaring free header he wasted from Cyrus Christie’s perfect delivery.

In the closing stages two penalty appeals were waved away involving Bamford and Assombalonga, but Middlesbrough’s expensive forward line couldn’t come up with a way to break Norwich down and a first home defeat of the season was suffered.