Wayne Rooney's brace was the difference for Manchester United's 2-0 win over Sunderland. A penalty which was drawn by Falcao which saw the wrong player sent off, was converted by Rooney. Next up, Januzaj's shot was parried into the path of Wayne Rooney whose header was sent into the empty net to surely give United all three points. This display today was slightly better than last week's 2-1 loss to Swansea.
Louis van Gaal made five changes to his side after last week's defeat to Swansea. McNair, Jones, Shaw, Fellaini, and van Persie made way for Smalling, Evans, Valencia, Young, and Falcao. Van Gaal decided to go for a 4-2-3-1 today with Blind and Herrera in the defensive midfield roles, Young and Di Maria out wide, and Wayne Rooney played right behind Radamel Falcao. Gus Poyet made a few changes as well after his side's draw last week against West Brom. Van Aanholt, Gomez, and Wickham were put in for Vergini, Alvarez, and Graham.
The game started off with steady possession for both sides until about eight minutes in when Sunderland had a golden opportunity to strike first. Eight minutes in, Di Maria was dispossesed trying to attack when Sunderland got the ball to Wickham. He went on a wonderful run down the left and cut in, but De Gea did well to turn it around the post. Just about a minute later after a Sunderland corner, Wayne Rooney was dispossessed in his own half, which allowed Defoe to strike from 25 yards out, but it went over the bar by a few yards.
United had their first opportunity on thirteen minutes when Di Maria's curling ball nearly found Falcao, the ball was only cleared as far as Ashley Young whose shot just blazed over the bar. It was about another ten minutes until another half-chance came for either side as van Aanholt's ball was neatly delivered but was just behind Wickham allowing De Gea to gather quite comfortably. Ashley Young was once again a threat as he let one fly, but it curled just wide of the far post but had Pantilimon beat. Young's next shot looked as if it were going to find the back of the net, but O'Shea's boot cleared it onto the crossbar.
Five minutes before the half ended, Rooney took a free kick that Pantilimon tipped over, and the ensuing corner was cleared off the line by Larsson. Valencia became the first man in the books into stoppage time as he went in on a lunging tackle on Adam Johnson. A mistake by Lee Cattermole allowed Rojo to send in a delightful ball to Di Maria, but the Argentine winger did poor trying to send it to Valencia allowing Pantilimon to get it comfortably.
Record signing Di Maria made way for Adnan Januzaj to start the second half due to his poor display once again. The Belgian brought some energy to the wing giving United a more attacking presence in the second half. Just five minutes into the half, Januzaj and Smalling had brilliant link-up play before Smalling delivered a cross to Falcao who headed it down to Rojo, but the centerback knocked it over the bar.
United would go on to dominate the game from this point as Januzaj would just fizzle one over the bar before a penalty was given. Herrera sent a beautiful ball into Falcao who was in the six-yard box and was pulled down by John O'Shea and Wes Brown. However, it was O'Shea who pulled down Falcao from the start not Brown, and Wayne Rooney dispatched the penalty sending it home into the bottom right corner.
Sunderland went for a double substitution after the penalty as Graham and Vergini came on for Defoe and Wickham. United followed that by bringing on Marouane Fellaini for Radamel Falcao, but that was met with a chorus of boos though from the Old Trafford crowd. Fellaini had a wonderful opportunity to silence the critics and get on the board just a few minutes after he came on but his first-time strike was poor. Van Aanholt would be the last man into the books just about ten minutes before full time for bringing down Januzaj. The last substiution for Sunderland was Steven Fletcher on for Adam Johnson in hopes of trying to get a late equalizer, but that was to no avail as just two minutes later, Januzaj's shot was hit back into the path of Wayne Rooney who nodded it into an empty net.
Mata would come on for Wayne Rooney, who came off to a standing ovation from the Old Trafford faithful. In stoppage time, Ander Herrera found the back of the net after Fellaini's ball to Valencia was touched by the Spaniard, but the goal was deemed offside.
Once again it was another unconvincing performance by Manchester United, but yet again, they found a way to win. The three points for United send them to third for now with Arsenal playing tomorrow, and Sunderland's loss leaves them in 16th place with 25 points, just three points above the drop zone.