Boro spring Euro shock on Roma
2006-03-10 08:36
Paris - Middlesbrough dashed Roma's 16-game unbeaten run on Thursday, an Aiyegbeni Yakubu penalty sealing the English Premiership side's 1-0 win in the Uefa Cup at a rain-soaked Riverside.
In pouring rain and heavy conditions underfoot, the home team dominated the first leg tie in its bid to reach the quarter-finals of the European competition.
Defenders Gareth Southgate and Chris Riggott came to the fore at "fortress Riverside", where Boro added the scalp of Europe's form team to those of Manchester United, Arsenal and runaway Premiership leaders Chelsea.
Roma never really forced Australian Mark Schwarzer into any game-saving action and were left ruing the absence of injured strikers Francesco Totti and Vincenzo Montella.
Instead it was Roma's 20-year-old keeper Gianluca Curci who stole the limelight, but for all the wrong reasons.
In the 12th minute, he brought down Boro's flying Dutchman Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the area and fellow striker Yakubu converted calmly from the spot.
"It was an excellent performance, a great European performance," said Boro coach Steve McClaren, adding that he would have liked a second goal.
"I'm a little disappointed we didn't get it," he said. "It's half a job done. It'll be difficult going to Rome.
Evenly balanced.
"The game is evenly balanced. We kept a clean sheet and we are capable of winning away from home."
Lille, lying third in the French domestic league, beat Sevilla 1-0 at home thanks to an amazing goal from Geoffrey Dernis after 25 minutes and the visitors' inability to make their pressure count in front of goal.
Dernis scored direct from a corner after Sevilla goalkeeper Antonio Notario misjudged the flight of the ball.
The two other French clubs in the competition didn't do well. Strasbourg going down 2-0 to Basel of Switzerland, and Marseille losing 1-0 at home to Russians Zenit St Petersburg.
Elsewhere in Europe, Rapid Bucuresti secured a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 home victory against Hamburg.
Daniel Niculae opened the scoring for the hosts just before the interval and Mugurel Buga doubled the lead two minutes from time to leave Rapid with one foot in the quarter-finals.
Fellow Romanians Steaua Bucharest fought out a scoreless draw with Real Betis of Spain, while Udinese and Bulgaria's Levski Sofia recorded a similar scoreline in Italy.
An early goal from stand-in striker Franco Brienza proved enough to give Palermo a slender 1-0 home win over Schalke 04, for whom goalkeeper Frank Rost was outstanding.