FERGIE - IT WAS A TRAVESTY

Sir Alex Ferguson has questioned the decision of the referee to award Newcastle United a penalty in the match against Old Trafford. Newcastle United equalised through the penalty and then managed to hold on till the end. The penalty was viewed with a lot of criticism from various quarters, although many would feel that Manchester United have had their fair share of dubious decisions gone their way. It is probably the first in a more than 100 matches that Manchester United have had a penalty decision against them. Still, it has caused United to miss the opportunity to close the gap on Manchester City, who could only draw against Liverpool on Sunday.

After the decision, Sir Alex Ferguson questioned the referee regarding the decision and also criticised the linesman for not doing his job properly. Speaking after the match, Sir Alex Ferguson said "I think everyone was astounded at the decision. Whether the linesman gets another game is not for me to decide."

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew himself accepted that the penalty was dubious and that Newcastle were lucky to get the break against Manchester United. Alan Pardew said, "I have seen it. If it was against me I would be very aggrieved."

Manchester United have been keeping a lot of clean sheets in recent weeks, in a direct response to their horrible 6-1 defeat at the hands of title-rivals Manchester City. However, they conceded in the midweek Champions League match and have now done that once more against Newcastle. The result leaves them five points behind Manchester City. However, the fact that Chelsea managed to win their match against Wolves means that the gap between them and the Londoners has now been reduced to just five points.

One can be sure that Mike Jones will not be refereeing at Old Trafford for some time now.