Middlesbrough midfielder Adam Clayton thought a "calmness in front of goal" was key to his side's Wear-Tees derby victory at Sunderland.
Boro made the most of the few clear-cut chances they created to claim a 2-1 win, with striker Cristhian Stuani scoring two stunning goals.
Sunderland hit back in the second half, with Patrick van Aanholt's close-range finish offering hope, but a dogged defensive display from Boro saw them hold on for Aitor Karanka's first Premier League success.
When asked what he thought was the difference between the sides, Clayton told Sky Sports 1: "I think calmness in front of goal when we got the chance.
"It was a great strike from Cristhian for the first goal and Alvaro (Negredo) for the second one in the box as well, so we were clinical when we got the chance and we've seen it out in the end in the second half.
"We've got goals in the side, so we've always got a chance."
Fellow midfielder Stewart Downing was fulsome in his praise for his team-mates, who now have a win and a draw since returning to the top flight.
He said: "It was always going to be difficult.
"We started very well in the first half but second half I thought we made it hard for ourselves. We could have pushed on but credit to Sunderland, they came back into it, but it's a massive three points for us.
"The timing of the first goal was very important. Right throughout the team I thought we defended very well, especially in the second half. It's three points, that's massive for us and that's four points now, so very good.
"Not many players in our team have played a lot of Premier League games, so it will give them confidence. It's a team effort and that's what it was today."
Sunderland boss David Moyes agreed with the Middlesbrough duo, pointing to the visitors' cutting edge as the main reason for the Black Cats' defeat.
He told Sky Sports News: "I've got to say, I didn't think we deserved to be 2-0 down at half-time.
"There was just 10 minutes before half-time when we lost John O'Shea that we just didn't quite get sorted and they scored the goal there.
"But again, I didn't think we deserved to go in 2-0 down, I didn't even think we deserved to go in 1-0 down, but that's football. We didn't take some chances we had and when they got theirs they took them.
"I thought we played well (in the second half), we had a good level of intensity but we ran out of it with sort of 10 minutes to go. We had worked so hard.
"But no excuse because we go out and we try to win and I thought the boys did try to win and I thought they really went to try and score in the second half and we were a bit unlucky we didn't get an equaliser."
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