Downing pays tribute to battling Boro

Stewart Downing paid tribute to Middlesbrough after they repeated their quarter-final heroics to overcome a three-goal deficit to book their place in the UEFA Cup final with victory over Steaua Bucharest.

As in the previous round Massimo Maccarone scored an 89th-minute winner to give Boro a 4-3 aggregate lead after the visitors took an early two-goal lead on the night.

A jubilant Downing told ITV4: “We’ve done it once, we’ll do it again, we like to do it the hard way.

“t was against a good team as well but we deserved it. We were brilliant on the night.”

Striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink joined in the celebrations, declaring: “Massimo, I love him until I die.

“It’s unbelievable. We are in the final and we have to go for it in the final.

“We had to do it the hard way.”