Match Report: Sunderland 0-1 Manchester United
Manchester United narrowly missed out on lifting this season’s Premier League title despite beating Sunderland by a single goal on Sunday.
Alex Ferguson’s United side went into Sunday’s away clash at Sunderland knowing that rivals Manchester City could still lift the championship despite a Red Devils win at the Stadium of the Light.
A sole Wayne Rooney header in the 20th minute was the only difference between the two sides on Sunday, and was almost enough for United to win the title.
Two stoppage time goals for Manchester City in their tie with QPR put an end to the Red Devils’ title hopes exactly 18 seconds after the end of United’s away win.
Sunderland’s manager Martin O’Neill, made three changes to the same Black Cats side that were defeated 2-1 at Craven Cottage by a resilient Fulham side last week. Fraizer Campbell, Titus Bramble and David Vaughan all started while Ji Dong-Won, Matthew Kilgallon and Lee Cattermole took their places on the bench.
Ferguson made two changes to United’s side, Chris Smalling didn’t start due to a hamstring injury, with Jonny Evans replacing him. Ryan Giggs also replaces Javier Hernandez up front.
United came out strong from the offset, and were close to hitting the back of the net early on when Rooney latched on to a superbly-timed Giggs pass only to fire just wide of the target.
The visitors established their lead after 20 minutes when an unmarked Rooney nodded in an excellent Jones cross into the Sunderland net.
Alex Ferguson’s men looked revitalized after their opening goal, and looked set to score many more. Giggs almost doubled his side’s lead in the 27th minute when his low yet powerful strike ended up in the hands of Simon Mignolet.
Sunderland began the second-half positively, the Black Cats’ new-found resilience resulted in an impressive yet desperate barrage of shots, Sessegnon and Phill Bardsley both hit fearsome shots directly at David de Gea in the United goal.
The home side’s form soon fazed out, and despite’s United’s new-found dominance, the game soon fizzled out too. With the away side sealing a 1-0 victory not long after.
