Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney smiles in celebration as he nets home the third and game-closing goal for his side
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK
Starting Lineups (Courtesy of Soccerway.com)
Goals of the Game
Manchester United: Van Persie (16'), Cleverley (19'), Rooney (59')
Sunderland: Campbell (72')
After Manchester City beat Newcastle 3-1 in an early kick-off match, United responded with a victory over Martin O'Neill's Sunderland with the same scoreline plus a dominant hold on possession to keep their six-point lead on the top of the table.
Sunderland kicked off the first half in a style they wouldn't be proud to remember as United dominated possession in the first fifteen minutes. Their unrelenting attack bore fruit when Sunderland's John O'Shea failed to clear an Ashley Young cross and instead sent the ball straight into Robin Van Persie, who tapped the ball home. United would get another goal just three minutes later, when Cleverley's curling shot swooped past keeper Mignolet and into the back of the net. Wayne Rooney would make a few attempts after that, but no dice.
The prolific Dutchman, Robin van Persie, opens United's goal tally for this match with a rebound tap-in
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK
Tom Cleverley (second from left, in red) curls a shot past keeper Simon Mignolet to put United 2-0 in under 20 minutes
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK
While Sunderland was sub-par in the first half, creating only a few half-chances, they upped the ante in the second. Now without their talisman, Steven Fletcher, due to an injury he picked up at the end of the first half, they were out for vengeance. His replacement, the young Connor Wickham, got some space and kicked the ball just over the bar. Instead, they plunged deeper into deficit when Robin van Persie outmaneuvered Titus Bramble and made a pass to Wayne Rooney, who did not fail to score.
Wayne Rooney shoots in the endgame goal for United at the 59th minute
Image retrieved from The Official Premier League Twitter Account
Sunderland's Frazier Campbell gave his side a consolation goal with a cool header
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK
At that point, Martin O'Neill's men no longer had anything to lose and everything to gain. As Manchester United started to relax a bit and started to bring on Nemanja Vidic, the Black Cats tried to pull one, which they successfully did. Sessegnon's cross was collected by Frazier Campbell from inside the six-yard box, who headed it in.
After that, Sunderland tried to push on, to no avail. When the whistle was sounded, the game ended 3-1, and Sir Alex Ferguson's men keep hold of their six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
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