A breathtaking 75th minute goal from Turkish international Tugay helped Blackburn Rovers take a giant stride towards qualifying for the last 32 of the UEFA Cup as FC Basel lost 3-0 at Ewood Park.
The Swiss visitors looked set to leave with a hard-earned point when Tugay beat keeper Franco Costanzo from 25-yards.
Former Arsenal striker Francis Jeffers made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the final minute after Reto Zanni had fouled Morten Gamst Pedersen before Benni McCarthy scored with virtually the last kick of the match.
It leaves Mark Hughes' side with a maximum six points from two games and as favourites to qualify from the group, while Basel now face an uphill struggle after collecting just one point out of six.
Basel have won three of the last five titles in Switzerland and arrived at a bitterly cold Ewood Park with a spring in their step after defeating league leaders Grasshoppers Zurich at the weekend.
Christian Gross, coach of a squad of 16 different nationalities, won just 10 games in a much-maligned time as Tottenham manager, including a 3-0 victory at Blackburn. But he has enjoyed great success back in his homeland and arrived in Lancashire confident of carving out an important result.
Rovers keeper Brad Friedel started despite imminent birth of his second child and the USA international came to his side's rescue when his out-stretched boot denied Mladen Petric from six-yards after the unmarked Croatian striker connected with Reto Zanni's 18th minute centre.
Blackburn were seeking to end a depressing run of three straight defeats which had seen them eliminated from the League Cup by Chelsea as well as suffer back-to-back Premiership defeats which had seen them fall into the bottom half of the table.
Yet they were fortunate to be on level terms as Basle served notice of their attacking intent. Once again Petric looked certain to score yet screwed his shot horribly wide of a gaping net after Brazilian strike partner Eduardo Da Silva had whipped in a teasing 26th minute cross.
Blackburn's evening did not get any better as influential midfielder Robbie Savage limped out of the game eight minutes before half-time with a leg injury which paved the way for South African international Aaron Mokoena.
Their best chance of the half fell to former Arsenal player David Bentley who spurned a glorious opportunity three minutes before the break to score his third goal in this season's competition after Shabani Nonda's defence-splitting pass.
Rovers wasted another golden chance shortly after the re-start, Nonda heading tamely at keeper Franco Costanzo following good work by Lucas Neill before Tugay's excellent long-range strike lifted the frustration.
The hosts confirmed victory in the dying stages when Jeffers scored from the spot before Benni McCarthy wrapped up victory in the dying seconds.
