Downing spares the blushes

Egaleo 0 Middlesbrough 1: Stewart Downing came off the bench in Athens last night to save Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren's blushes with a crucial goal which ensured the Teessiders' Group E campaign got off to a winning start.

The 20-year-old grabbed all three points for the visitors with a neat low finish with just 12 minutes left.

Downing was left out of the starting line-up - along with Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Gaizka Mendieta - as McClaren looked to keep legs fresh for Sunday's Premiership clash with Portsmouth. It was far from convincing stuff from Middlesbrough, who rode their luck at times and had goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to thank for several key saves as Middlesbrough clung on for their first taste of victory on foreign soil.

Downing's vital goal, just seven minutes after he entered proceedings for Boudewijn Zenden, means Middlesbrough can look forward to the home game with Lazio at the Riverside in two weeks knowing they can afford to drop points and probably still reach the knockout stages.

That outcome had not looked likely for long periods as McClaren's weakened side struggled against their youthful and energetic opponents.

Mark Viduka started alongside Slovakian Szilard Nemeth in attack but the Australian, who had not trained much prior to the match after recently overcoming a hip injury looked sluggish.

Neither side created much in the way of clear-cut chances in the closing stages, with Middlesbrough looking content to hang on to what they had.

EGALEO: Sidibe; Papoutsis, Alexopoulos, Psomas, Edusei, Fotakis, Skopeletis, Barkoglou (Christou 90), Chloros, Nikolopoulos (Makris 76), Manousakis. Subs Not Used: Kljajevic, Liapakis, Tsatsos, Chatsis,Tsagavelis. Booked: Alexopoulos.

MIDDLESBROUGH: Schwarzer; McMahon, Riggott, Southgate, Cooper, Zenden (Downing 70), Parlour, Doriva, Morrison (Mendieta 45),Nemeth, Viduka (Hasselbaink 70). Subs Not Used: Nash, Boateng, Wilson. Booked: McMahon, Morrison.

Referee: A Hanacsek (Hungary).