ANDY Carroll was the main man for West Ham as Middlesbrough suffered defeat at the Riverside Stadium. His two first half goals were followed by a late third by Jonathan Calleri, while Cristhian Stuani pulled one back before the break.

Boro played well and could have claiming something. Here are the key issues from the latest reversal?

THE ANDY MAN

He is maybe plagued by injuries but Carroll, the former Newcastle man, showed again why he is so useful to any Premier League side. Karanka has signed Rudy Gestede in the hope of seeing similar performances from a big man in the box.

Carroll was outstanding while he was on the pitch and the Boro defence, normally so reliable, wondered what had hit it in that first half. His first goal was because he had worked free of Bernardo and his second was after he was quickest to react to a rebound.

The England striker was also useful in his own half of the pitch, often heading clear to annoy the Middlesbrough attacks. There’s not many Andy Carrolls around, even if injuries have prevented him from really achieving so far in his career.

IS ADAMA A CHELSEA MAN?

The last week has seen Chelsea’s interest in Adama Traore come out and after this performance that will not go away; if anything his value will have increased.

From the moment Victor Valdes could be seen complaining about his failure to track back after West Ham’s first attack, Traore was the main source of supply and provided the greatest threat for Middlesbrough.

The former Barcelona man made a few mistakes, which has become the norm, but his unpredictability was what West Ham were most concerned about and he was always at the centre of the visitors’ best attacks. He had a part to play in Stuani’s equaliser too.

SHOTS ON TARGET

It seems harsh to highlight that Middlesbrough didn’t threaten Darren Randolph’s goal directly enough because they did play well and caused problems.

However, they didn’t turn possession into shots on target. In fact they only recorded two at Randolph’s goal over the 90 minutes, while the Hammers had five and scored three.

Karanka’s side did have 11 shots during the afternoon, but the amount of times a dangerous ball went into the box and went unconverted was staggering. There were plenty of positive signs in the way they played, and yet more is certainly required.

KARANKA REACTION

There was an interesting reaction from Karanka after the game in the post-match press conference, when he revealed he was clearly annoyed by the fans’ chant of ‘attack, attack, attack’ with 12 minutes remaining.

The Middlesbrough boss was disappointed with the way the supporters demanded more forward play when the team trailed, even if the side had played with more attacking freedom than they have at times this season.

There was never really a sense that the fans were having a go at the players or the team’s performance on an afternoon when the atmosphere actually seemed vibrant and positive, although he obviously felt there was an attack on the way he had the team playing.

MANAGERIAL REACTION

Aitor Karanka said: "If you look at where we were this season and two seasons ago these players deserve more respect.

"When how many thousands of fans at the end are asking for long balls you have to play long balls. It's a style we don't know and we didn't play it well. It's a thing we have to fix because while I'm here we're not going to play long ball.

"Two years ago the club was going to League One they have short memories. They're leaving the stadium with five minutes to go when three years ago the club was going to League One. 

"The fans knew this season was going to be tough but they mustn't forget where the club was two thee four five seasons ago."

Slaven Bilic said: "We didn't just nick three points, we were the way better side and for that I'm happy. Andy's as good as gold you know. I'm a big fan of his because he gives you everything, he's scored a couple but his game just doesn't depend on that.

"With his work-rate his linking up and his physical presence in defence he's a magnificent player. The only problem with him is that he's not all the time available.”