United vs. Sunderland Match Report

United vs. Sunderland Match Report

Final result: United 2 - 0 Sunderland

Pre-match news: Luke Shaw came off the team sheet due to injury, so Rojo had to push out to left back and Jonny Evans came in at center back. It was a surprising decision, choosing Evans over Phil Jones or Paddy McNair, considering how much Evans has struggled recently. I didn’t mind it all that much giving Evans another chance to redeem himself before putting the nail in the coffin, especially against a weak attack in Sunderland. Granted, Young could have played at left back to allow Rojo to stay central. In the midfield, van Gaal elected to go with a seemingly flat four, with Young and di Maria on the wings. I’m happy he selected two natural wingers, though I would have preferred Januzaj over Young (even though I know I’m in the minority with that opinion). Blind and Herrera in the midfield, both good choices. Still wish there was a way to fit Mata into the starting lineup, but the only real way would be to drop a striker. Up top, sticking with the two strikers, Rooney and Falcao got a chance to start alongside each other. Falcao probably got the nod over Wilson just because of experience, but Wilson was ready to go on the bench, along with the other subs: Lindegaard, McNair, Carrick, Fellaini, Mata, and Januzaj.

Update: Changes to the projected lineup as it looks like it will now be a 4-2-3-1 with changes to the midfield and strikers. Herrera will drop into holding midfield with Blind while Rooney, Young, and di Maria will control the attack midfield. Falcao will get the chance as the lone striker. Biggest issue now will be service into Falcao, hopefully he can make enough runs to get into decent position.

First Half

The game started with Falcao in the lone striker role, the position he is most used to. Initially, United looked to be more intent on attacking and getting forward rather than just dominating possession, but after two early corners, nothing materialized for United. Sunderland pressured United high up the field, hoping to force errors when United’s defenders were in possession.

De Gea was forced to make a save on Connor Wickham after United gave the ball up and were beaten on the counter; questions were being asked early on for United’s defense. As far as the decision for Evans to play, Jones had an illness.

Going forward, Falcao and di Maria looked weak on the ball. Di Maria took a while to get involved in the game as he lost possession on his first two touches. Once he got involved though, he began to take charge. On a wicked ball into the box, Falcao couldn’t latch onto the end of it as he claimed he was held. Young came up with the ricochet and had a sizzling strike go inches over the bar, United’s first real chance.

United started to settle into the game with plenty of lateral passing, hoping to find holes in the Sunderland defense. Falcao still didn’t really seem to get involved as he made aimless runs with no real purpose and United still didn’t have enough passing options when on the ball.

On two more corners, United failed to create a chance and the ball ended up at the feet of de Gea. In the 26^th minute, United created their best chance of the game with a great ball in from Valencia to Young, which Young fired on goal.  O’Shea, the former Red Devil, got lucky to prevent the goal with a block hitting off the crossbar.

Deep into the first half, Ashley Young looked to be United’s most dangerous player with his pace and service from the wing. United put the pressure on towards the end of the half, winning two free kicks in dangerous position but again, nothing resulting.

First half recap: United, as always, dominating possession but not creating that many genuine chances. Falcao still looks aimless in attack and weak in possession, haven’t seen enough out of him so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wilson come on the in second half for an injection of pace. In defense, United eventually settled possession down with Smalling and Evans providing reasonable distribution. The biggest threat, as expected, will be Sunderland on the counter attack as a result of United mistakes. Hopefully United can capitalize on possession in the second half, otherwise this game could be decided by a late goal and the result could go either way.

Second Half

Well while the first half provided little entertainment, the second half was plenty of entertainment. Januzaj came on for di Maria at the half and began making an impact immediately. Falcao began to find his footing and was able to control the ball better as well as make better runs into space. United won plenty of corners but again failed to capitalize, though Evans wasn’t forced these times to go all the way back to de Gea. Sunderland got the rare attack or two, only off of mistakes from United.

As Fellaini began to warm up after a quarter hour in the second half, Falcao received a cross and brought it down brilliantly, only to be hacked down by O’Shea. The ref made the call for a PK and mistakenly sent off Wes Brown. Regardless, Sunderland were down a man and Rooney buried the penalty in the bottom left corner, out of the keeper’s reach. Fellaini still came on for Falcao, and interesting substitution after Falcao had started to improve his play. From then on, United were able to dominate the game. I still felt they needed a goal to secure the result, and it eventually came when Rooney headed in a rebound off of a Januzaj shot. Rooney was taken off after and Mata came on, but there wasn’t much else as far as discussion as United cruised. They could have had a third goal late but the goal was disallowed due to offsides.

Recap: United secured a much needed three points, though perhaps not in the most convincing fashion. Up until the penalty and the sending off, they failed to create many legitimate chances even though they dominated possession. As has been the case this season, the style of play may not have been up to the fans’ liking. Still, a win is a win. In other news, Sunderland lost in a surprise to West Brom.

Player Ratings for Starting Lineup:

David de Gea – 6: Mostly because of a lack of involvement; he really didn’t have much to do for most of the game, other than a few chances early in the first half which he did well to stop.

Marcos Rojo – 5: Rojo played well defensively but looked out of sorts going forward and linking up with Young on the wing. Chalk that up to rarely playing left back, otherwise it was a decent performance.

Jonnny Evans – 7: Evans came in because of Phil Jones being ill, and he performed nicely. After a shaky start, Evans was able to calm down in defense and possess the ball. He partnered well with Smalling throughout.

Chris Smalling – 9: For me, Smalling is the man of the match. He stepped up well in defense when he needed to and held off Sunderland players as necessary. In possession, he calmly brought the ball down numerous times and distributed it to the midfield; sometimes he was even able to burst forward and join the attack.

Antonio Valencia – 7: Solid game from Valencia. He created plenty of attacks with his speed and crosses from the flank, the first of which almost led to a goal for Young. He performed well in defense as necessary.

Daley Blind – 6: Didn’t really hear Blind’s name called all that much, which I suppose isn’t necessarily a bad thing as he was mainly playing in the holding role. A nice, consistent performance and he stepped up whenever it was needed.

Ashley Young – 9: Second contender for Man of the Match in my opinion. He dominated play on the wing and created endless chances for United, also running back on defense when it was required. Young has played well all season, so this is hardly a surprise.

Ander Herrera – 6: Similar to Blind, nothing jumped out from his performance, either in a positive light or a negative. After a run of a goal a game recently, Herrera came down to mere mortal status.

Wayne Rooney – 8: Rooney played well in midfield but gave away several passes, including one in the first half that nearly led to a chance. Still, he had both goals for United, one on a PK and one off a rebounded shot. Good performance from the Captain.

Angel di Maria – 4: Di Maria struggled until he was taken off at half time for Adnan Januzaj. Though he was able to create some attacks, he’s still struggling with the physicality of the EPL. There were also several instances where he gave the ball away needlessly.

Radamel Falcao – 6: Throughout the first half, Falcao was hardly involved. Once the second half started, he was more involved in receiving passes and distributing. He ultimately won the penalty decision that gave United a one goal lead and a man advantage. I would have liked to see more out of him, but he took a step in the right direction to redeeming himself.