JOSE MOURINHO insists he would never have been weighed down by the expectation levels around Old Trafford - and he certainly wasn’t when former Manchester United boss David Moyes returned with Sunderland for the first time.

It was Moyes who had suggested that any manager, Mourinho included, would have struggled to succeed after taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson – and the Portuguese was keen to rubbish such claims.

But on a Boxing Day when Manchester United were expected to claim a fourth Premier League win a row, they did just that even if an encouraging Sunderland display had threatened to nick something before the goals really started to flow late on.

Sunderland are a point from safety; above Crystal Palace, though, there is now a three point gap, so clearly there is plenty of work to do for Moyes and his players ahead of a New Year when they are not expected to spend money.

There were moments, and good ones, which could have seen the Black Cats earn a lead, but then six minutes before the break Daley Blind fired Manchester United ahead and the home side never looked back.

There were plenty of chances before Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued his recent good burst of form by grabbing his 50th goal for club and country in 2016 after a horrendous error from Sunderland’s Didier Ndong on half way.

Then four minutes later the points were wrapped up when Armenian substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan somehow arched his leg to flick a volley with his heel from Ibrahimovic’s cross to draw gasps from an Old Trafford crowd.

There was still time for former Liverpool forward Fabio Borini to pull one back for Sunderland with a brilliant volley of his own after the 90 minutes was up. This was Manchester United and Mourinho’s day, though, as Moyes failed to enjoy some joy on a ground where his brief ten month reign came to an end in April 2014.

It may only be the second season Manchester United had been outside the Premier League’s top five at Christmas, but Mourinho has given them greater strength and they had not been defeated in the league since October.

Throw in the fact Mourinho’s side had won four in a row beforehand - and that Moyes had never won a game against his counterpart - and it was hard to imagine anything other than a home win.

But Sunderland, who made two changes by bringing in Seb Larsson and Billy Jones, had been showing signs of a team capable of pulling off a successful survival fight and this time, unlike at Liverpool, Moyes sent out a system intent on regularly attacking.

Borini and Victor Anichebe were asked to operate occasionally as extra full-backs when the home side attacked, however, they did more pushing forward and were regularly alongside Jermain Defoe.

Manchester United had a couple of wayward efforts miss the target and Paul Pogba forced goalkeeper Jordan Pickford into an early stop, but Sunderland were not afraid to push forward and they could easily have earned the advantage.

From the first corner of the game, Lamine Kone had a goalbound effort blocked and cleared in a crowded box and that was just a sign of things to come, particularly in the first half.

Defoe, Anichebe and Borini were all initially effective in their own way and they could have been ahead had they got a break in their favour in the final third. Defoe’s excellent touch was highlighted when he brought down Pickford’s long clearance, only to shoot off target moments later.

Goalkeeper David de Gea had to be alert to prevent Patrick van Aanholt from finding his corner with a free-kick, while Anichebe and Borini’s best efforts to convert a couple of half chances in the area went unrewarded following more good work from Defoe.

Despite all of Sunderland’s endeavour and adventure, at times, Manchester United still had the opportunities themselves and Sunderland were made to pay when a lapse in concentration in the 39th minute ended with Blind scoring.

The onrushing Dutchman was fed the ball in the box by Zlatan Ibrahimovic after he was picked out following some good work by the marauding Marcos Rojo. Blind controlled and picked out the bottom left corner of Pickford’s goal with a tidy left-footed finish.

Pogba, the £89m man, came close to adding a second with a decent volley moments before half-time too, with Moyes knowing Sunderland would face a tough task to take something back to Wearside after a promising start.

And Manchester United’s expensive Frenchman ought to have headed in his side’s second moments after the restart; instead his powerful nod flew a yard over after meeting Ander Herrera’s pinpoint cross.

Sunderland had more work to do in a defensive sense for the majority of the second half, with de Gea in the Manchester United goal provided with less work to do. Pickford didn’t have it as easy.

He had made a fantastic stop with his legs to prevent Ibrahimovic from beating him with 25 minutes remaining but he made no m mistake with a gift as the game entered the final stages.

Ndong’s awful error in placing a pass straight to Pogba was the killer blow. The former Juventus man rolled in Ibrahimovic to apply the finish, curling round Pickford.

The best goal of the afternoon was still to come, even if there was more than a hint of offside about it. The Swedish striker turned provider by clipping a cross to the centre of the box, where Mkhitaryan somehow flicked his heel to volley powerfully into the right corner four minutes later.

Even though the result was done and dusted, there was still time for Borini to dip his brilliant volley inside the top corner but Sunderland know there is still plenty more to do in the battle to stay up … starting at Burnley on New Year’s Eve.

Goals: Blind (39, 1-0); Ibrahimovic (82, 2-0); Mkhitaryan (86, 3-0); Borini (90, 3-1)

Bookings: Blind (19, foul); Borini (62, foul); Kone (90, foul)

Referee: Martin Atkinson (Leeds) - 6

Attendance: 75, 325

Entertainment: ***

SUNDERLAND (4-3-2-1): Pickford 7; Jones 6, Kone 6, DJILOBODJI 7, van Aanholt 6; Denayer Larsson 5 (Khazri 82), Ndong 4 (Love 86); Borini 7, Anichebe 6; Defoe 6. Subs (not used); (not used): Mannone (gk), O’Shea, Honeyman, Asoro, Embleton.

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3): De Gea 7; Valencia 7, Jones 6, Rojo 7, Blind 7; Carrick 6, Pogba 7, Herrera 7 (Fellaini 83); Mata 6 (Martial 74), IBRAHIMOVIC 8, Lingard 6 (Mkhitaryan 62, 7). Subs (not used): Smalling, Rashford, Romero (gk), Darmian.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Zlatan Ibrahimovic – two assists and a goal for himself on an afternoon when he finished the year with his 50th goal for club and country in 2016.