The boys from Rome were in town but it was Boro’s players who were the gladiators on a memorable night at the Riverside on this day in 2006.
Fresh from setting a Serie A record after embarking on an 11-match unbeaten run in the league, European giants Roma just had to turn up to beat Boro didn’t they?
Anything but. This was a Boro side growing in confidence with every round in the UEFA Cup, a side seemingly made for the European stage and a side that sensed an upset.
Not only did Yakubu fire an early goal from the spot to give the hosts an advantage they deserved going into a second leg, McClaren’s men stood firm to record the oh-so crucial shut-out, preventing Roma from getting an away goal on the board.
“It was an excellent European performance,” beamed a proud McClaren after the game.
“We finished with 11 players on the park, a clean sheet and we scored the goal.
“It’s a great scalp. It gives us a good platform to go into the second leg.”
Hard to believe Boro were relative newcomers on the European scene. Welcoming the likes of Roma to Teesside was something you wouldn’t have even allowed yourself to dream about in the past.
Yet Boro didn’t sit back and show their Italian opposition too much respect and treat the match as an occasion, they approached it as they would any other fixture.
It paid off. Hasselbaink was sent tumbling in the box after just 12 minutes, the unshakeable Yakubu slotted home the resulting penalty.
Roma did create openings of their own but Boro never looked under any real stress.
In fact, they could have extended their first leg advantage had Mendieta not made a mess of a glorious opportunity eight minutes from time.
But this wasn’t a game of what could have been. Boro had got the better of mighty Roma and put themselves in an excellent position to advance.
“We’ve got a great platform and we know what we need to do,” said skipper Gareth Southgate.
“I think we have to score there but if we can do that, it would put us in a great position.
“Last night’s result was exactly what we wanted and it will be a real humdinger of a game over there.”
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