Middlesbrough vs Arsenal - Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough - Saturday 10th September 2005

The Invincibles, unbeaten away from home in 2 of the last 4 seasons (2 of the only 3 times that its ever been done in top flight football). We seem a fair way away from that now, with the second away defeat in a row in the League (3 in a row if you count Birmingham at the end of last season - which lets face it, does count really). And this, unlike the Chelsea game, was a deserved beating.

Arsenal were extremely jaded, and missing important players through injury, after the international break, but lets take nothing away from Middlesbrough, who certainly have the players to be a very competitive side if they could put a decent run of form together. They fully deserved their 2-1 win, which was effectively a 2-0 win really, Arsenal's goal coming as a weak consolation at the very end of the game.

To cap it all off, a nightmare journey there and back meant that the day was far longer than I'd ever wanted it to be, and a trip back to London from Middlesbrough after a performance like that is not a pleasant one