Controversial Penalty Mars Good Win (Middlesbrough 1 - Manchester United 2)

It was the Riverside and last year's demolition was still fresh on my mind. I had feared the worst coming into this game. For some reason, Boro always puts on a good performance whenever a good side comes visiting.

Thankfully this time we came mentally prepared and equiped. Of course getting a dubious penalty to open the scoring was really welcomed. Ronaldo had passed Schwarzer and was thru on goal but he stumbled along the way. Although my initial thoughts were 'PENALTY!', the TV replay did not show any contact. Ronaldo had dived, or at least he hand stumbled. It didn't matter, the referee gave a penalty and Saha prompt stood forward and scored. The good guys were one up, and based on our play, we richly deserved it.

The second half was a bit hazy for me. The game was played at freaking 1am in Singapore, and I was really having trouble keeping my eyes open by half time. I even had to go the extra length to call Kentona on the phone to engage in a conversation to keep myself awake. Of course having that pussy being viciously attacked by a lizard during the conversation helped to entertain me.

All I could remember in the second half was that James Morrison equalized for Boro but within 2 minutes from the restart, Ronaldo ran riot in the Boro defense, cut the ball back to Giggs who crossed it perfectly onto the head of a rushing Fletcher to restore our lead. He had justified Ferguson's faith in replacing Carrick in the starting lineup. I'm sure after that I fell promptly asleep. Thankfully there were no further goals.

We're now 6 points clear of Chelsea who have a game in hand. Chelsea did not play this weekend coz their game was against Newcastle. Newcastle played in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, while Chelsea will be playing in the Champions League this coming Tuesday, hence the weekend schedule could not be fulfilled.

If we carry on in this irresistible form and dispose of rivals Manchester Shitty next Saturday, we could very well be looking at a 9 point lead before Chelsea meets London rivals Arsenal on Sunday. While on paper it doesn't mean much, psychologically it could affect the Chelsea players.

However, before we start counting our chickens, there's that all important Champions League game against Benfica this Wednesday.