It doesn't really matter because the back then-noisy neighbours got their iconic "Aguerooo" moment in the end, but in 2012 the conspiracy theorists had something to point their finger at. Both clubs had a bumpy festive period, but the turn of the year found City recapturing some of their earlier form by thrashing 'pool 3-0 (they went on to win 7/8 matches) while we suffered a heavy defeat at St James' Park and were left three points behind City. Players were missing and we were struggling to find form in a season when we were mostly playing catch-up.
We did find a brilliant winning form, with 11 wins and a draw in the next three months. Not always by playing well, though. Early in that run, we hosted Stoke City in OT and scored from two very debatable penalties. If i remember correctly, when asked about the penalty decisions, Pulis said "this is Old Trafford" or something along those lines. A week later, we were 3-0 down at The Bridge and we turned it around to get a point with two more penalties. Those weren't debatable. They were non-existent. Howard Webb was the ref at SB, a detail that made the criticism louder.
After that, we beat Liverpool and went on to have that great run that took us 5 points clear off City until the Wigan and Everton games. Don't know, i guess i always felt that we got some kind of helping hand when we needed it back then.
