Middlesbrough 2 Charlton Athletic 2: Just where Middlesbrough might be without Stewart Downing is a good question and one Steve McClaren must be asking himself after seeing his young left-winger clamber off the treatment table and do more than anyone to help achieve this hard-earned draw.
The hamstring injury which had Downing taken off on a stretcher during Thursday's Uefa Cup win against Grazer AK was expected to sideline him but, after a late fitness test, he started.
Quite apart from literally dragging his team back into a game they intermittently looked like losing, his wonderfully varied repertoire of crosses, set pieces and dribbles frequently raised the tone. Although Middlesbrough improved significantly when McClaren switched to 3-5-2 in the second half, pushing the hitherto disappointing Michael Reiziger forward to counter Charlton's midfield quintet, this tactical rejig would have been irrelevant without Downing.
Virtually every threatening home move featured the winger in a pivotal role, leaving certain colleagues appearing distinctly passive.
Charlton seized the early initiative. Originating with Talal El Karkouri's long ball, their opening goal involved Shaun Bartlett twisting away from his minders and laying off to Matt Holland. Carlo Nash, in for the injured Mark Schwarzer, was thoroughly deceived when Holland's 20-yard right-foot shot deflected off Gareth Southgate and into the net.
With Radostin Kishishev sweeping the space between Alan Curbishley's defence and midfield, Boro were shepherded sideways and, by the interval, had forced the impressive Dean Kiely into only two significant saves - a block at Szilard Nemeth's feet and a tip-over from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Charlton's goalkeeper was finally beaten when he parried a Southgate shot and an arguably offside Chris Riggott made no mistake with the close-range follow-up.
At this juncture Curbishley could have been forgiven for instructing his players to defend the point but, refreshingly, Charlton's manager instead introduced Jason Euell as an extra striker. Vindication came when Hermann Hreidarsson's cross was missed by Euell, who served as an inadvertent decoy, and the ball fell to Bartlett whose finish was too good for Nash.
Danny Graham enjoyed the last word, though, the young Boro substitute's equalising header - registered after he met Franck Queudrue's splendid long pass and flicked the ball up off his foot - rendering Kiely helpless.
