Goals:
0-1: Mata (17, stole ahead of Larsson to tap home Valencia’s cross after the wing-back beat van Aanholt on the outside)
1-1: Rodwell (30, eluded Valencia to meet Larsson’s right-wing corner and plant downward header into the net)
Bookings: Young (62, simulation), Cleverley (72, foul)
Referee: Martin Atkinson (Leeds) – Wasn’t taken in by Young’s attempts to win a penalty and tried to allow the play to flow whenever possible 7
Attendance: 43,217
Entertainment: ***
SUNDERLAND (4-1-4-1):
Mannone: Made a superb surge from his line to deny Young in the closing stages and claimed a succession of crosses 7
Vergini: His return helped make Sunderland much more secure than at the Hawthorns and he handled Young reasonably well 7
Brown: Marshalled van Persie superbly throughout and was generally in the right place to thwart Man United’s attacking 7
O’Shea: Won a number of important tackles and headers, but almost played in Young with a dreadful square ball 6
Van Aanholt: Caught the eye going forward, but was undone defensively for the second game in succession as Valencia crossed for Mata 6
CATTERMOLE: Ran the midfield for the second game in a row and combined passion and aggression with impressive discipline 8
Buckley: Enjoyed a successful first start as his direct running down the right-hand side caused problems for the Man United defence 8
Larsson: Displayed plenty of energy and delivered the corner for Rodwell’s header, but didn’t dominate as he would have liked 6
Rodwell: Powered home his first goal in a Sunderland shirt and looked fitter than he had appeared at the Hawthorns 7
Wickham: Caused problems whenever he cut in from the left-hand side, but scuffed a decent opportunity in the first half 7
Fletcher: Was a bystander for long periods and is struggling to justify his inclusion ahead of Wickham in the central area 5
Subs:
Gomez (for Rodwell, 63): Couldn’t really change the course of the game in his half-an-hour on the field in the second half 5
Altidore (for Fletcher, 76)
Bridcutt (for Buckley, 79)
(not used): Pantilimon (gk), Jones, Roberge, Mavrias.
Man United (3-5-2): De Gea 6; Jones 5, Smalling 4 (Keane 43, 4), Blackett 4; Valencia 5, Cleverley 4, Fletcher 5 (Januzaj 63, 4), MATA 7, Young 3; Rooney 6, van Persie 4 (Welbeck 63, 5).
Subs (not used): Amos (gk), James, Kagawa, Hernandez.
Man Of The Match: LEE CATTERMOLE – The Sunderland midfielder completely outplayed his more illustrious opponents in the central area, and has picked up where he left off in the final month of last season.
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