Boro left with two-goal deficit in UEFA Cup

Basle 2 Middlesbrough 0

Middlesbrough’s UEFA Cup dreams were left hanging by a thread after an explosive first-half finish proved decisive in this first leg for Swiss side Basle.

The Teessiders headed back from St Jakob Park for next week’s quarter-final second leg trailing 2-0 and knowing they will have to score three goals more than Christian Gross’ men at the Riverside Stadium if they are to make the last four.

Steve McClaren’s side were a match for their hosts – who boast a Champions League victory over Celtic and draws against both Manchester United and Liverpool in the recent past – for much of the game.

However, they were undone inside three devastating minutes at the end of the first half as Argentinian midfielder Matias Delgado claimed his seventh goal in the competition and then David Degan added a second on the stroke of half-time.

Boro came close to pulling one back when Chris Riggott’s 51st-minute header hit the bar. But Delgado also saw a free-kick clip the woodwork, and Riggott hacked another effort off the line from substitute Scott Chipperfield.

The Teessiders had conceded only four goals in their previous 10 European games this season, but the Swiss Axpo Super League leaders demonstrated their pedigree with a performance which suggests Boro will have to turn in a stunning display on their own pitch if they are to claw back the deficit.

Fighting in the crowd at half-time marred the evening for the 1,400 or so travelling supporters, but the biggest trouble for Boro came on the pitch.

Boro’s game plan was much as it had been against both Stuttgart and Roma in the previous rounds – the pursuit of a potentially invaluable away goal and a clean sheet.

For 43 minutes, they were at least halfway there as the Swiss side struggled to break them down despite left-back Franck Queudrue having his hands full with midfielder Degen.

There was even optimism that the second half might yield that precious strike at the other end as the Teessiders threatened, although not with any great regularity, through England winger Stewart Downing and front two Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka.

Yet just as it looked as though they had safely negotiated the opening 45 minutes, disaster struck.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer had earlier had to keep out a well-struck drive from defender Boris Smiljanic, but he was to be defeated by both danger man Delgado and the pitch.

There seemed to be little to concern the Australian when the South American received the ball from Bruno Berner on the left touchline.

However, he cut inside Ray Parlour and unleashed a dipping right-foot shot which reared up off the rain-sodden turf and flew over the helpless goalkeeper.

Schwarzer was still dusting himself down when striker Eduardo played the ball in behind central defender Emanuel Pogatetz for Degan to slide a second beyond the hopelessly exposed goalkeeper.

The visitors could barely believe what had happened as they trudged off the pitch at the break, during which riot police were drafted in as fighting broke out in the crowd.

With Gaizka Mendieta having tested goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuhler with a long-range effort 12 minutes before half-time, Boro knew they could hurt their hosts – but they needed to do it quickly.

They went close within four minutes of the restart when Hasselbaink directed a header towards Zuberbuhler’s bottom left corner, and the goalkeeper was at full stretch to turn the ball away.

But he was beaten from the resulting corner when central defender Riggott powered in a header from Mendieta’s cross, only for his effort to clip the crossbar and fly to safety.

Basle, with the impressive Papa Malick Ba sitting in front of the back four, frustrated Boro by retaining possession for long periods – and with Delgado and Degen probing in midfield, the signs were ominous.

It took a brave block from Stuart Parnaby to keep out the Argentinian’s goal-bound 63rd-minute effort, and Schwarzer needed the help of the crossbar seconds later when the same man curled in a free-kick.

The visitors were forced into a reshuffle on 68 minutes when Pogatetz, who had five stitches put into a facial wound on Sunday, left the pitch on a stretcher with a broken nose after a clash with Mladen Petric and was replaced by Ugo Ehiogu.

Their woes might have deepened within three minutes when Chipperfield ran on to Petric’s lay-off to side-foot towards goal, only for Riggott to hack clear.

Basle looked more likely to add to their tally than Boro did to grab a lifeline as the clock ran down. Ehiogu might have done just that with a minute remaining but saw his header from a Downing corner saved on the line.

It was a dejected visiting side which left the pitch on the final whistle - knowing that, while they are still in the tie with George Boateng and Lee Cattermole available after suspension, they have a mountain to climb.