THEY came to see Emerson and stayed to marvel at the deftness of Juninho, but perhaps the night's most heartfelt cheers were those that greeted the 89th minute coup de grace, a Fabrizio Ravanelli close range goal that took Middlesbrough into the quarter finals.
As was only appropriate, the diminutive Brazilian had been the goal provider after a sprint down the right and a lethally precise centre.
The game had started with Emerson running out last of all, but he was then given the warmest of welcomes on a relatively mild Teesside night. Boro, however, were caught cold after only 30 seconds when Keith Gillespie careered past Mikkel Beck and Chris Morris on the right and supplied a cross which David Ginola met first time.
The shot was blocked but, in attempting to clear, Robbie Mustoe sliced the ball straight to Faustino Asprilla. Gary Walsh half parried and the ball was eventually scooped to a safety of sorts, but a trend had been set.
By the fifth minute, after fierce efforts from Beck and Ginola, any ideas that either side might have had of slowing down the play were blown away. Newcastle, with Gillespie and Ginola seeing plenty of action, were typically forthright and Boro, propelled by Juninho's invention, were also positive.
A superbly skilful back heel flick earned the diminutive Brazilian a standing ovation on the half hour. Admittedly, Middlesbrough supporters were in healthy voice by then, Derek Whyte having opened the scoring four minutes earlier. Perversely, the lead up to the goal included a fine example of defending from Darren Peacock and a risible one from David Batty.
Stretching to deny Ravanelli, Peacock deflected the Italian's thrust for a corner Craig Hignett took it and Batty, at the far post, miskicked horribly. Steve Vickers turned the ball back into the danger area swiftly where his fellow centre half Whyte forced it in from six yards.
That was unexpectedly quick thinking from Vickers, but his next intervention was in no motion. Seconds of the half remained when Gillespie slung in a long, looping corner Vickers was marking Alan Shearer, allegedly, but England's most conspicuous striker was still allowed a free jump. He powered in a header from beyond the penalty spot.
To be fair to Vickers, no red shirt had moved then and at least the centre half made sure, at the next corner shortly after half time, that there was no repeat performance from Shearer.
This incident resulted from an agile save by Walsh, pushing away Asprilla's drilled strike which in turn came from yet another Gillespie run.
The young Ulsterman was in the thick of things then, and almost had a leg broken by Morris before getting up and swinging a punch in retribution. Both men were booked.
As the game continued to swing to a frenetic rhythm, Hignett put a beautiful chip on to Pavel Srnicek's bar, Shearer squandered an opening and Boro went ahead again.
To nobody's surprise, Juninho started the move, exchanging crisp passes with Ravanelli whose low, hard centre found Beck arriving ahead of Peacock at the near post to give Srnicek no chance.
Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan admitted Boro, who had lost by the same scoreline in the Premier clash at St James' Park, had deserved their revenge.
He said: "On the night they just edged us, and they were worth their win."
