Manchester United picked up all three points through two goals on either side of half time by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Rashford piled on the misery for David Moyes as he added a third goal late on.
Mourinho puts in a surprising line-up:
United manager Jose Mourinho made a few surprising changes to his first team at the Stadium of Light. David De Gea was left out of the side due to a hip injury. As a result of which, Romero got his first Premier League start of the season. Heavily criticized left back Luke Shaw was a surprising inclusion in the squad. It came as a bit of a shocker to most people after Mourinho’s comments on him in the previous match. Fresh from signing a new contract, Lingard was also included in the squad. Darmian was the first choice right back for Mourinho who decided to give Valencia a rest. Fellaini starting in midfield and was made the captain for the day. The team sheet clearly reflected the fact that Mourinho had one eye on the midweek Europa League tie.
Fresh from signing a new contract, Lingard was also included in the squad. Darmian was the first choice right back for Mourinho who decided to give Valencia a rest. Fellaini starting in midfield and was made the captain for the day. The team sheet clearly reflected the fact that Mourinho had one eye on the midweek Europa League tie.
David Moyes’ team started the match on the back foot and decided to stay there for most of the match. United did not have to sweat too much to take the points. They probably played the full 90 minutes in first or second gear.
Zlatan is on a roll:
United’s first goal came on the half-hour mark thanks to a brilliant curling effort from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He ingeniously used the run of Pogba to create some space and curled the ball into the far post. They got their second goal just 45 seconds into the first second half after Mkhitaryan brilliantly tucked the ball into the back of the net.
Rashford added a third goal on the scoresheet after he thumped one past Sunderland’s goalkeeper towards the dying end of the match. The goal was set up courtesy of a brilliantly weighted ball by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Sunderland sinks deeper:
David Moyes desperately hoped that team would muster up some resilience in the match. And in all honestly, his front men did create a couple of half-chances in the match. Victor Anichebe did have one or two good chances.
But any sort of comeback was wiped out after Larsson was shown a red card in the second half for a rash challenge on Herrera. Sunderland went down to 10 men and it was literally game over. All Moyes could do now is to sit in his dugout and hope for a fairy tale comeback. At the final whistle, Moyes had no other option but to face reality. The reality, that his team might have to play in a totally different league next season. The reality, that it might not actually be his team next season.
Next stop, Europe:
Mourinho but out a team who good bring home all the three points without any major hiccups. And in the end, he will feel that it is a job well done. He will also get a lot of positives from the game. Luke Shaw put in a more than decent shift and was quite eventful while going up front. But he also played with a bit of caution and chose to make more safe passes rather than cheeky ones.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic kept on his fine run of form and scored yet another goal. This was his 28th goal of the season. The next best goal scorer for United is Mata who has scored 10 goals. This goes to show how important Zlatan is basically to Mourinho.
Sunderland could have new competitors next season:
Sunderland is just sinking deeper into the mud with each passing game. And now it looks like they might be heading the Championship way. And Moyes might very well be asked to leave even before the end of the season. They are currently at the bottom of the table and ten points away from safety.
