Best ever for Boro
16 Mar 2006 - 08:06:16
Middlesbrough captain Gareth Southgate claimed his side's away goals victory against AS Roma in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup represented "the best night in the club's history".
Boro took a 1-0 first leg lead to the Stadio Olimpico and increased their advantage when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink headed home 13 minutes before the interval.
Roma hit back with two goals from Brazilian midfielder Mancini, but Boro clung on for the final 24 minutes thanks to some desperate defending and some fine goalkeeping from Mark Schwarzer.
"It's fantastic. It has to be the best night in the club's history," claimed Southgate.
"To come here, we knew they were a good side and they showed it.
"We knew we needed an away goal and (Mark) Schwarzer made some good saves to keep us in it.
"We took all our strikers off and didn't seem to get out of our half. But we managed to soak it up. Credit to everybody. It took guts and we had something to hang on to."