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| Middlesbrough ended Brighton's unbeaten run to top the Championship at Christmas |
THE magic of Jose Mourinho lives on - only this time it was Aitor Karanka weaving it.
As Jose watched from the stand his former protege's Middlesbrough side turned on the style they used to serve up together at Real Madrid.
Then he went to the Boro dressing room to congratulate them - and commiserate with well beaten Brighton boss, Chris Hughton, as well.
Karanka said: "Nobody knew he was coming today except me, but he brought us luck.
"We had three amazing years at Real and he is my friend. He was the best - and still is the best."
Karanka didn't really need the Special One yesterday. His players were special enough.
Kiki, took just four minutes to head Boro in front, and even then Brighton's title as the league's only unbeaten side looked over.
It was as good as confirmed when Adomah deflected Daniel Ayala's header home for their second just before the break.
No 3 came less than 20 minutes later with another header from Christian Stuani that Brighton really ought to have cleared.
It really was game over then as Boro made it six clean sheets on the trot - promotion form by any standards.
As Karanka added: "Jose came into the dressing room to congratulate us and my players deserved that."
The beaten Hughton, who revealed that Mourinho wished him all the best afterwards, admitted: "The hard facts are they were just better than us today.
"It was a bit of a reality check for everyone, and this has to be a springboard for us to move on and and get back to the levels we have shown."
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