Championship top scorer Will Lankshear strike im 10th goal of di season as Middlesbrough just about keep dia head to see off Stoke City.
After goalless first half, Boro go ahead straight after break through Callum Brittain, but Stoke instantly level through Neto Borges own goal.
Lankshear then pounce on fumbled save from Potters keeper Viktor Johansson to restore im side lead, but Stoke substitute Robert Bozenik level for a second time.
But Borges then score at di right end one minute into injury time to stretch Boro unbeaten run to eight games and keep dem within two points of leaders Swansea City, while Mark Robins plucky Potters drop a couple places to sixth.
After opening half wey Boro largely dominate, and dem go closest when home keeper Johansson go full length to deny Amario Cozier-Duberry, Stoke begin to look brighter as half-time approach.
So e be small surprise when visitors take just three second-half minutes to go in front, with Brittain first goal of di season.
Di hosts get a couple chances to clear dia lines but, when Cozier-Duberry put di ball back in di mixer, Brittain fine finish find di bottom corner.
Yet Stoke come back level inside two minutes when Junior Tchamadeu shot was diverted by Borges past im own keeper Radek Vitek.
Boro then lead again when Johansson go full length to keep out Cozier-Duberry low shot, but fumble helplessly, unable to react as lethal Lankshear show just why e be Championship top marksman by arriving first to poke di ball over di line.
Again Stoke level, dis time with just four minutes left when Luke Ayling hurried clearance fall straight to George Hirst, who square to im left for Slovakian sub Bozenik to drill home im first league goal of di season from 12 yards.
But, just when e look like Stoke don claim battling point wey dem just about deserve, Borges get di final word to sentence di hosts to dia first defeat since 29 August and end dia six-game 16-point unbeaten run.
Both sides dey back in Championship action dis Saturday when dem each play dia third game in eight days.
Boro host improving Cardiff City in one of di three lunchtime slots (12:30 BST), before Stoke travel down di A52 for Midlands derby with Derby.
Stoke City manager Mark Robins tell BBC Radio Stoke: “We’ve got to be disappointed with the final outcome, but there’s a lot of positives to take from it. Harsh lessons learned but it gave us an indication of what one of the top sides in this division looks like. We know they’d have destroyed us last year – but we were in the game – and there’s much, much more to come from us. The turnaround in games has been hard. More difficult for some than others. People had run their legs out a bit.”
Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg tell BBC Radio Tees: “It felt like this could have been a smoother ride. But we were always pushing to win the game and, without doubt, it was a fair result. We are starting to get better and better – and after Saturday (Boro’s 1-0 win over Wolves), to do that again was impressive. I am very pleased with the performance and the way we can play. We wanted to keep a clean sheet but we were enormously strong to go on and win it like we did.”
