Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland – Match Report

2 first-half goals from Manchester United give the Black Cats a reality check, as they go into the international break suffering just their 2nd defeat in this season.

Mason Mount opened the scoring in just the 8th minute, after being smartly picked out by Bryan Mbuemo on the edge of the box, and he side footed it into the corner, brilliant finish.

United continued to press in the first half, and by the half hour mark, they were 2-0 up, thanks to a long throw that caused Sunderland all sorts of problems.

Diego Dalot launched in the throw towards the front post and 5 Sunderland players went for the ball, leaving Sesko free in the 6-yard box, who got on the end of Mukiele’s flick and tapped the ball home.

Regis Le Bris was forced into changing the system before half-time, as it just wasn’t working for the Black Cats, and he brought on Dan Ballard for Simon Andingra to go to a back 5.

This did improve Sunderland, and made them harder to break down, and they were close to getting a lifeline just before the break.

Xhaka had a rocket of a shot saved by the keeper, and Sunderland were initially awarded a penalty seconds before half-time.

Trai Huke challenged for the ball, and Benjamin Sesko went in for the ball with his foot, appearing to make contact with Hume.

After a long, long review, the VAR finally overturned the decision after it turned out there was no contact.

Sunderland looked better in the 2nd half, but really struggled to really penetrate United.

They had 1 huge opportunity towards the end, after a smart turn by Mayenda, who played Chemsdine Talbi through, but his shot went straight at the goalkeeper.

Sunderland have now dropped to 6th in the table, but they could drop as far as 9th depending on tomorrow’s results.

United move up to 8th in the table, as pressure is released from Amorim for one more week.