Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka has talked up the importance of Cristhian Stuani to his side following his winning goal in their FA Cup clash with Oxford United this afternoon.
Boro had let a two-goal lead slip at home to their League One opponents in the fifth round of the FA Cup, but Stuani's 86th-minute winner sealed a 3-2 victory and saw the Premier League hosts avoid a replay at the Kassam Stadium.
It is not the first important goal Stuani has scored for the club, having also fired Boro into the Premier League during last year's season-ending showdown with Brighton & Hove Albion, and Karanka believes that the Uruguayan's contribution is too often overlooked.
"He is really important and for me, it's a shame that maybe it is not recognised how good he is and how much he is helping us. His numbers since he arrived here have been amazing, and not just the numbers, the moments. Today he appears at the most difficult moment; in the last game [of last season] against Brighton, he scored the most important goal, so for me it's a shame that sometimes he is not recognised as he deserves," Karanka told reporters.
"In this football since I arrived, until the referee says it is finished, always you are afraid because in one minute a League One team can change the game. The most important thing today was to win the game, to be in the draw and to realise that three years ago, I don't think anyone could think that Middlesbrough could be in the Premier League and play in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, so we have to be really pleased.
"I wanted to win the game, I want to be in the semi-finals, I want to win to be in the final, I want to win the cup and I want to be in the Premier League next season."
Stuani has scored 16 goals for Boro since joining the club at the start of last season.
