Middlesborough 2 West Brom 2: Bryan Robson's seven-year reign here ended with season tickets being torn up and hurled at his feet by disaffected fans but yesterday his new team left Teessiders nostalgic for the good days they enjoyed under Middlesbrough's former manager.

Playing a high-tempo, slick-passing game, West Bromwich belied their lowly position by contributing hugely to an entertaining afternoon and were unlucky not to win.

Mark Viduka opened the scoring for Boro when he played an incisive one-two with George Boateng. It left him in a position to turn Neil Clement before defying the unsighted Tomasz Kuszczak with a low shot into the bottom corner.

Undeterred, West Brom equalised. The goal was created by Nwankwo Kanu who played in Nathan Ellington, who hammered a shot past Mark Schwarzer.

McClaren was sufficiently alarmed to adjust his formation to 4-4-2 at half-time when he introduced Szilard Nemeth. Not that it seemed to do Boro much good as West Brom took the lead. Kanu, showing off the sort of impudence which many feared he had lost, met Paul Robinson's centre and proceeded to trick Gareth Southgate by switching feet and shimmying his hips before placing a precise, right-footed, shot beyond Schwarzer from 20 yards.

Not to be outdone, Yakubu equalised with the most audacious of nonchalant penalties, awarded in the wake of Robinson's foul on Nemeth. Guardian Service