Maccarone snatches miracle victory for Boro

Middlesbrough 4 Basel 1 (Agg: 4-3)

The Teessiders’ cause looked lost when Brazilian striker Eduardo made the aggregate score 3-0 with 23 minutes gone, but on a tension-packed night, Steve McClaren’s men showed true grit to overcome near-impossible odds.

Basle, who had seen defender Daniel Majstorovic sent off for a second bookable offence with 17 minutes remaining, had literally seconds of normal time and three minutes of added time to negotiate to go through on the away goals rule after a Mark Viduka double and a third from substitute Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had dragged Boro right back into the tie.