The points were shared between Middlesbrough and Stoke City after a fast paced season opener saw the two teams locked at 1-1 as Premier League football returned to the Riverside stadium for the first time in seven years.
Boro returned to England's top flight in impressive fashion pinning the away side in their own half and going ahead early on as new signing Alvaro Negredo headed home. For long periods of the game it looked as though it would be the match winner, however Xherdan Shaqiri spoiled the party midway through the second half with a stunning free kick ensuring Mark Hughes' men emerged from a difficult encounter with a point.
Buoyed on by the fantastic home support on their Premier League return, unsurprisingly it was Boro who were fastest out the traps, snapping into tackles giving Stoke no time to settle.
Pacey winger Albert Adomah went close to lifting the Riverside roof, attempting an audacious lob from all of thirty yards which almost caught stand in goalkeeper Shay Given out in the Stoke net as Karanka's men started brightly.
Stoke, who are embarking on their ninth successive Premier League campaign struggled to impose their superior top flight experience in what was a crackling atmosphere on Teesside.
It took just ten minutes for the hosts to make their early pressure count opening the scoring when new signing Alvaro Negredo bundled home. A deep cross from the lively Albert Adomah was cleverly headed back across goal by Gaston Ramirez, allowing the Spaniard to open his account for the promoted side after fending off heavy pressure in the Stoke box.
? | Gol de Negredo: Middlesbrough 1-0 Stoke City pic.twitter.com/0UfsMryDd1
The only black mark in what was a fantastic first half back in the Premier League for Boro came in the 20th minute when £12m man Marten De Roon was forced out of proceedings through injury, being replaced by Adam Forshaw.
Stoke looked out of sorts in the first period and their frustration boiled over after a difficult opening period when captain Ryan Shawcross became the first man in referee Kevin Friend's book after being penalised for a needless tackle on goalscorer Negredo.
Mark Hughes' men showed few signs of life throughout the first half, with Marco Arnautovic's clever movement the only occasion the Potters came close to opening up the Boro back line, who only conceded eight goals at home last season.
Their hosts came close to doubling the score as Ramirez tore past Shawcross before firing a low drive across Given, only to see his effort clip the face of the post.
The Uruguayan was in action just four minutes later at the other end of the pitch, heading a loose ball off the line after a Xherdan Shaqiri corner caused havoc in Victor Valdes' six-yard box.
The half time break did little to contain Boro's exuberance with Negredo charging down Given, before Adomah's tricky run was brought to an abrupt end by Phil Bardsley which saw him cautioned.
Seemingly in control of proceedings, a weak Antonio Barragan back pass came close to undoing all of the home side's hard work as Arnautovic, Stoke's biggest threat hared down on the loose ball only for Valdes to beat the Austrian to it and bail his defender out.
However having not tested Valdes in the Boro net, Stoke's talisman Shaqiri hauled the away side level with just over twenty minutes remaining, dispatching a free kick of the highest quality from 25 yards out. Winning the free kick himself, the Swiss international dusted himself down before reversing the ball into the far corner across the Spanish keeper who was wrong-footed by Arnautovic's presence over the ball. Incidentally, Shaqiri's effort was the first time in three years that Stoke have scored direct from a free kick.
Shaqiri with the equaliser for Stoke at Middlesbrough via a free-kick. OOF! #PL pic.twitter.com/8SPLDSFYPm
With both sides lacking match sharpness at this early stage of the season combined with the high intensity of the clash, the game drifted towards its conclusion with both sides focused on not dropping points on the opening Saturday of the season.
Lineups
Middlesbrough: Valdes; Nsue, Barragan, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, De Roon (Forshaw 21'), Ramirez; Adomah, Downing, Negredo
Subs: Konstantopoulos, Rhodes, Fischer, Baptiste, Stuani, Forshaw, Nugent
Stoke City: Given; Bardsley, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters; Whelan, Imbula, Shaqiri, Bojan (Allen 78'), Arnautovic; Diouf (Walters 69')
Subs: Haugaard, Allen, Muniesa, Adam, Walters, Cameron, Crouch
Referee: Kevin Friend