Manchester United vs. Sunderland: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Manchester United moved to the top of the Premier League table thanks to a 3-0 home win over Sunderland at Old Trafford.
Memphis Depay, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata got the goals for the Red Devils, who leapfrog rivals Manchester City in the standings.
Rooney's effort saw him not only end a long drought in the Premier League but also draw level with Denis Law on 171 goals for the club.
Sunderland, meanwhile, find themselves still propping up the rest after a fifth loss in seven league outings.
They held out until injury time in the first half, only to then concede two goals on either side of the break.
Bleacher Report picks out the winners and losers from the game at the Theatre of Dreams.
Winner: Manchester United
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Manchester United were winners before they had even kicked off.
Manchester City’s 4-1 defeat at Tottenham in the lunchtime fixture would have delighted the home fans as they made their way into Old Trafford.
The lunchtime result in London meant those supporting the red half of the city of Manchester knew a win in the afternoon would see them take over the top spot in the table.
They duly delivered the three points in comprehensive fashion. According to MisterChip on Twitter, "Manchester United leads the PL for the first time in 82 weeks (since MD 38 of 2012-13)."
Loser: Sunderland
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Sunderland travelled to Old Trafford more in hope than expectation.
However, the Premier League’s bottom club stood firm for 45 minutes, raising hopes it would keep its first clean sheet at the end of the opening half.
Yet, just as Sunderland were waiting for the whistle to give them a breather, they conceded during injury time.
As if that weren’t bad enough, they then allowed Manchester United to double their lead within a minute of the restart.
Manager Dick Advocaat did not pull any punches when asked about the club's plight, per Chris Young of the Sunderland Echo: "We can’t keep saying we have a lot of games to go. We cannot keep saying after each game to take the good things out of it."
Winner: Wayne Rooney
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The drought is finally over. Wayne Rooney has finally scored a Premier League goal again.
The Manchester United forward moved level with Law when he used his knee to turn home Anthony Martial’s cross early in the second half.
Rooney had astonishingly gone 999 minutes without scoring in the league, according to Squawka Football on Twitter.
His first goal in 12 league games will relieve some pressure on the England international, though he has now scored seven times for club and country this season.
Loser: Jeremain Lens
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Sunderland were never likely to get many opportunities to get a goal.
Therefore, when an opportunity did come their way, they needed to be clinical.
Jeremain Lens had a glorious opening to put the visitors ahead during the first half, only for his right-footed shot from a tight angle to be kept out by Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.
While he made good contact with the strike, Lens could have instead taken the opportunity to send the ball across to the supporting Fabio Borini.
The decision to go for goal himself failed to pay off, and the Black Cats were left to regret the Dutchman’s selfishness.
Winner: Juan Mata
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Mata has become a pivotal part of Louis van Gaal's Manchester United.
The Spaniard again underlined his importance to the Red Devils with a goal and an assist against Sunderland.
He was on the end of Daley Blind's delightful ball over the top to set up the opener for Depay, then put the icing on the cake with a late goal of his own in the closing minutes.
Ashley Young's cross on the left reached Mata at the back post. His control of the ball allowed him to then hammer home a left-footed shot.
According to Squawka Football, "Juan Mata has now scored seven Premier League goals in 2015, more than any other Man Utd player."
It also revealed he has provided 38 assists in the Premier League since 2011/12, putting him behind only Manchester City's David Silva (43).
Loser: Adam Johnson
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Adam Johnson found himself hauled off at half-time by Advocaat.
The winger was replaced by forward Steven Fletcher, and the switch at the break did lead to an immediate goal when play got back underway.
However, the problem for the visitors was that the ball ended up going in their net, rather than Manchester United's.
Advocaat was direct in summarising Johnson's display, according to injury specialist Ben Dinnery: "Advocaat confirms Adam Johnson withdrawal was tactical 'I took him off because every ball he touched was wrong.'"
