EPL: Sunderland hit Man United

Sunderland took another giant stride towards
Premier League safety with a 1-0 victory over
beleaguered champions Manchester United at
Old Trafford.
The Black Cats' success - United's seventh
home league loss this term - saw Cardiff and
Fulham relegated and moves Gus Poyet's men
three points clear of Norwich with a superior
goal difference.
The only goal came after 30 minutes when
Connor Wickham was allowed to cross from
near the corner flag by Darren Fletcher and
Seb Larsson ran unchecked beyond Michael
Carrick to fire beyond David de Gea from 12
yards.
Robin van Persie was thrown on in the second
period to make his first appearance since the
March 19 win over Olympiakos, but it was
Sunderland who went close to making it 2-0
when fellow sub Emanuele Giaccherini hit the
post from Jozy Altidore's low cross, with Jack
Colback firing the follow-up into the side-
netting.
With time running out and United's regular
attacks held up by the Sunderland defence, the
visitors were again inches away from doubling
their lead when Fabio Borini beat De Gea with
a curling shot only to see it come back off the
face of the crossbar.
This was the afternoon that the feel-good
bubble surrounding Ryan Giggs well and truly
burst as the high-tempo, counter-attacking
football he demanded from his players was
absent all day.
United were flat in midfield, Javier Hernandez
went missing up front and even the return of
Van Persie from the bench could not inspire
the Red Devils to victory.
United's defeat also highlighted the need for
reinforcements this summer, particularly in
midfield, where Nani, Darren Fletcher and
Michael Carrick failed to impress.
Just as they did in like last week's win over
Norwich, Giggs' men started very slowly.
Ashley Young, one of five changes to a
starting XI that did not contain the injured
Wayne Rooney, dazzled Marcos Alonso with
his skill, but his final ball was poor.
The only time United came close to scoring in
the opening 15 minutes was when John
O'Shea nearly turned the ball into his own net
from Carrick's cross.
Another United old boy - Wes Brown - then
put a crucial block in to deny Nani, who then
picked himself up before curling over from 20
yards.
Patrice Evra bundled his way through the
crowd, but his weak header was easily
collected by Vito Mannone.
Hernandez, making his fifth league start of the
year, dropped too deep, leaving United without
a focal point up front.
Giggs had seen enough. With 26 minutes on
the clock he came to the touchline for the first
time to stand over his players. Four minutes
later his mood worsened as Sunderland took
the lead.
Fletcher inexplicably allowed Wickham to
send over a cross which Larsson expertly
finished after giving Carrick the slip.
United were just as flat and unimaginative
until the break, with Juan Mata the only man
to test Mannone courtesy of a low drive.
Soon after the restart the United fans started
voicing their frustration as the home team
passed the ball across midfield without,
seemingly devoid of any idea how to pierce the
Sunderland back four.
United upped the tempo briefly near the
halfway point of the second period. Evra
crossed for Hernandez, but Brown intervened
just as the Mexican was about to shoot.
Nemanja Vidic appealed for a penalty when
his header struck Lee Cattermole in the box,
but Howard Webb waved play on.
Giggs replaced Nani with Adnan Januzaj, who
scored two goals in the reverse fixture. Then
Van Persie entered, along with Danny Welbeck,
for his first game in more than six weeks.
Sunderland should have put the result beyond
doubt with 17 minutes to go, but Giaccherini's
weak shot from a cross by fellow substitute
Altidore hit a post and bounced out to safety.
Borini almost made it 2-0 when he struck the
bar, but one goal proved enough for Poyet,
who jumped for joy when the final whistle
went.