AS FAR as the purchase of Massimo Maccarone is concerned it seems to be a case of money well spent.

But there was very little the £8.15m club record buy could do about the incredible way his new side let slip a two-goal lead in the closing stages against Fulham on Saturday.

Maccarone was fresh, inventive, pacy and he showed he has certainly got an eye for goal with a brace.

And after he was replaced - to a standing ovation - it was just five minutes later when Fulham, who never looked like scoring throughout the clash, grabbed two late, late goals inside 60 seconds of each other.

It was a pity because otherwise this would have been a result masterminded by Maccarone's ability to turn a game in an instant.

And Boro skipper Gareth Southgate was the first to praise the Riverside's latest hero.

"He was absolutely brilliant," said Southgate. "It was a great way for him to start at the Riverside. It's always nice for a new player to get off on the right foot, I think particularly so for a striker.

"It gives his confidence a boost and when the team sees someone coming in and doing well it lifts everyone.

"When clubs sign a striker, particularly at this club, I can almost sense the fans are willing them to do well. That was the case for Massimo. He responded to it perfectly with two good strikes."

Maccarone's display certainly did not go unnoticed by his manager, Steve McClaren, after his home debut in front of 28,000-plus fans.

McClaren said: "It just shows what a good player he is. From the moment we signed him we have been delighted with him.

"We have to give credit to him because he was solid and his attitude towards the game was superb. He was always busy and he was always looking to score goals."

McClaren, who risked splashing big money on a relatively unknown quantity from Serie B when clubs were not prepared to take the plunge, believes the front-man can go on to be a huge hit on Teesside.

"When you buy any player there's a gamble," he said. "There's no guarantee that they'll adapt to the different culture and different country.

"It was a gamble but we had faith in our decision and we have every faith in the player."

Boro enjoyed a bright opening ten minutes but they failed to force a save from Edwin van der Sar.

The vibes coming from Maccarone's display early on suggested he was going to have a good day at the office.

The former Empoli man jinked his way past ex-Newcastle defender Alain Goma near the touchline and Fulham had to thank Rufus Brevett, who blocked the surging run into the penalty area.

But after Sylvain Legwinski headed over a Steed Malbranque corner, Maccarone did not have to wait too much longer for his first Premiership goal.

Greening's aerial reverse ball was badly cleared by former Sunderland defender Andy Melville and Maccarone pounced to fire a left-foot shot beyond van der Sar on 32 minutes.

Five minutes after the restart the Italian international then made a darting near post run and he met another Greening centre with a powerful header for his second of the afternoon.

The party had started. The crowd were singing chairman Steve Gibson's name to thank him for backing McClaren in the transfer market. Yet, it was going to go wrong, so badly wrong.

But first, Maccarone could easily have became the first Boro man to score a top-flight hat-trick since Fabrizio Ravanelli's triple against Derby on March 5, 1997.

Dutchman van der Sar denied him once and then another shot trickled wide after a tremendous run that took out full-back Steve Finnan and Melville.

But then with a minute left on the clock Fulham suddenly found themselves just one down when midfielder Sean Davis tapped in. And then sub Facundo Sava rifled past Schwarzer with 90 minutes up.

It was a shock to the majority at the Riverside, as Boro had deserved to take all the points.

And captain Southgate admitted: "With 85 minutes gone we were cruising and we had it wrapped up. The people who left early, and there were quite a few, will have been delighted. It was nave the way we let them back in.

"There are some young guys in the team and they have to learn how to win. But there are positives for us and we will take the positives from this.

"For 85 minutes there's no doubt we were the better side. We dominated a team who have had four or five games already.

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