Morgan Rogers played a key part in Middlesbrough’s come-from-behind Carabao Cup win over Exeter City
Morgan Rogers, a forward, has committed himself to further improvement after leading Middlesbrough to the Carabao Cup quarterfinals. The 21-year-old’s amazing goal was part of Tuesday’s comeback victory against Exeter City.
His goal against Birmingham City came just over a week after a thrilling late winner. Rogers has made just five Championship starts since joining Boro from Manchester City this season and has been in and out of the starting lineup.
However, Rogers feels he has been “getting better and better after every game and every training session” and is in good condition. “I’m learning from all the coaching staff and all the players, and that’s all I can do,” he declared.
“Obviously, I want to try and play as many games as possible, so I’ve just got to try and keep pushing myself. I can feel within myself that I’m getting better and better, but I’m not going to stop; I want to keep going. There is more to improve upon and more to learn, so that’s what I’ll do.”
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Boro’s much-changed side did not panic. Goals from Rogers, Sammy Silvera, and Emmanuel Latte Lath (penalty) ensured Michael Carrick’s men avoided a cup upset.
Rogers said: “It had its ups and downs, and they played well and gave a really good account of themselves. We had to weather a few storms in the game, but we showed resilience and fought to come out and win the game.
“We can’t do much with the two goals they scored because they were both pretty special goals. All you can do is come out and work hard to try and come out on top and I thought we did that today. When they made it 2-2 it was still us having the chances to win the game and luckily we got the penalty.”
It was Rogers who leveled things up at St. James Park. His exquisite right foot curler was his fourth goal of the season.
“It was nice to see it go in,” he said. “You work on those things, and I’m just really happy it went in, and more importantly, really happy that I could contribute to us winning the game.
“It was important to just get back in the game. It was one of those strikes where, when you hit it, you instantly think, ‘This has got a chance’. Luckily, it did go in, and I’m really happy. But, as I say, the most important thing is that the team wins and we continue to move forward.”
Boro were backed by over 1,300 fans in Devon as the team wrapped up their eighth win in the past nine matches across all competitions. “I couldn’t believe when we came out,” said Rogers.
“When I realized that they were into that stand as well, it seemed even more amazing because they had occupied the whole stand behind the goal. I simply want to thank them very much for the trip and the distance. We can hear them the entire time we’re playing, which keeps us going. Hopefully, we can keep providing them with joyous occasions to celebrate.”
It is the first time Middlesbrough have reached the last eight of the competition since 2018. Rogers said: “Obviously, we take it one game at a time, but we’ve been really good in this competition, and we’ve had to come to some difficult places. We might have been favorites in them, but you’ve still got to go out there and perform, and I think we’ve done that really well throughout.”
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