Battling Boro sting slack Stuttgart

Stuttgart 1 Middlesbrough 2

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink fired the visitors ahead against the run of play with 20 minutes gone, but after Stuart Parnaby doubled the lead, the Germans wilted alarmingly before Danijel Ljuboja’s 85th minute free- kick reignited the tie just when it looked as though the Teessiders had killed them off.

Boro boss Steve McClaren was delighted with his side’s performance: “We would have settled for that before the game. You need to be disciplined and that was what we were,” he said.