Middlesbrough put on a five-star show as they hammered rivals Norwich to move up to third in the Championship. Boro brought a three-game winless run to an end in emphatic fashion, running in four goals in a breathless first half before adding their fifth just after the break. The Aston Villa loanee Aaron Ramsey got things going for Boro with an early opener before Hayden Hackney added a second. Cameron Archer scored a double late in the first half, either side of Josh Sargent hitting the net for the visitors. The Championship’s top scorer Chuba Akpom wrapped up the statement victory early in the second half. Boro are five points behind second-placed Sheffield United having played two games more, but the heavy defeat leaves Norwich in eighth, one point behind sixth-placed Blackburn, who have two games in hand. Despite the scoreline, Boro manager Michael Carrick felt it wasn’t his side’s best showing. “I’m delighted with the result,” he said. “In a strange way, I actually think we’ve played better in other games, but we had that really clinical feel about us tonight and were ruthless. I was really, really pleased to see that. It wasn’t a nice performance – it was one where the boys showed how much they wanted it and how tuned in they were. “You could see how confident they were as well, to create the chances and score the goals. Even after the setback of conceding just before half-time, it was great to go and score again and have that mentality. I was really pleased with a lot of things, and with not really being right at our best I didn’t think, it was a terrific win and really important for us.” Norwich actually started well at the Riverside and created early chances for Teemu Pukki and Sargent. They were made to pay for missing those opportunities when Ramsey opened the scoring with Boro’s first attack of the game after seven minutes. Norwich’s defence was cut open and Archer teed up his Villa teammate for a tap-in. Ramsey’s night was cut short when he was replaced before the half-hour mark with an ankle injury. Middlesbrough thought they had doubled their lead when Darragh Lenihan headed in Jonny Howson’s cross but the offside flag was up. But it was only a brief let-off for the visitors, and Boro did get their second on 41 minutes – the first of four goals in a 10-minute spell. Hackney scored the second when he brilliantly converted Marcus Forss’ cross with a well-timed half-volley. It was the midfielder’s first goal since Carrick’s appointment. Boro scored their third on 43 minutes. The substitute Alex Mowatt played in Archer, who calmly slotted into the bottom corner for his seventh goal since his January arrival. Boro were in complete control but handed Norwich a lifeline in the last minute of the first half when Paddy McNair was dispossessed and Sargent took full advantage. But Boro reestablished their three-goal lead in the sixth minute of stoppage time, with the sloppy Norwich defence failing to clear a Ryan Giles free-kick and Archer hammering home his second and their fourth. It was five just four minutes into the second half. Archer, on his hat-trick, could have gone for goal inside the box but instead teed up Akpom for his 27th league goal of the season. Norwich came close to a consolation when Gabriel Sara saw his shot cannon back off the post and the visitors should have had a penalty when Giles mistimed a tackle on Max Aarons, but the referee Josh Smith waved away the protests.