Man Utd vs Sunderland: Man Utd win 1-0 despite Van Persie miss

Manchester United relied on a first-half own goal by Titus Bramble to beat Sunderland 1-0 on Saturday, securing a seventh straight Premier League win to inch the runaway leaders closer to a 20th English title.

Robin van Persie's shot in the 27th minute was heading wide but Bramble stuck out a leg and deflected the ball into the corner of his own net, rewarding United for its early dominance at the Stadium of Light.

The visitors, who came into the match holding a 15-point cushion at the top, sat back in the second half but held on relatively comfortably. Only the biggest meltdown in Premier League history would stop them reclaiming the title off second-place Manchester City.

United has bad recent memories of playing Sunderland away — two seasons ago, a broken sewage pipe left a foul stench in its dressing room while last season, Alex Ferguson's team won 1-0 on the final weekend but had the title ripped from them by City in extraordinary, last-gasp circumstances.

United will leave the northeast more content this time around, having dominated a lethargic Sunderland side from the start despite Ferguson resting the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra with Monday's FA Cup quarterfinal replay against Chelsea in mind. The only negative was the 32nd-minute withdrawal of Brazilian right back Rafael da Silva because of injury.

Van Persie's streak without a United goal stretches to eight matches — he scored three times in two games for the Netherlands in the international break — but he was integral in the opener here, firing in a shot that deflected first off Phil Bardsley and then more decisively off the outstretched right thigh of Bramble and into the corner.
That capped a bright start to the match by Van Persie, who almost doubled the advantage late in the first half when he exchanged passes with the excellent Michael Carrick only to volley just over the bar.

Sunderland perked up for the second half but rarely threatened David de Gea's goal, and United left back Alex Buttner came closest to grabbing the game's second goal only for goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to turn a fierce shot round the post.

The loss left Sunderland just above the relegation zone with seven games remaining, with tough fixtures against Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton coming up. With top scorer Steven Fletcher out for the season because of injury, the team could soon find itself in the bottom three.

United, meanwhile, has a real chance of breaking Chelsea's record from the 2004-05 season of 95 points from a single campaign. It has 77 points with eight games left.

Game over

96": Van Persie misses a sitter at the end. Game over.

92": Cleverley drives to the line, but his pull-back goes through Robin van Persie's legs.

86": Sunderland make their last change, with Jack Colback replacing Rose and possibly then have their last chance. Sunderland push forward and Sessegnon sees a shot blocked.

80": Ten minutes to go. Will United stick, or twist and score. All still to play for.

76": Buttner most impressive. Makes a great run, then survivies a red card challenge and then tests Mignolet.
Sunderland make a change, with Connor Wickham replacing Johnson, Welbeck is on as well. Next goal vital.

73": Smalling makes a great clearing header for United. United soaking up a lot of pressure.

68": United need a second here. Sunderland are pressing hard. Bardsley sneaks past Vidic in the United area, but Evans saves the day.
Sessegnon’s acrobatic effort from the resulting corner is cleared.

60": Sunderland finally find an extra gear and lay siege to the United goal. De Gea is injured punching the ball out and goes down, the referee stops the game with the ball in Sunderland’s possession just out side the United ‘D’. Sunderland fans are livid, as De Gea gets up.

55": Van Persie makes a high challenge and it's heart-in-the-mouth-Nani time for United supporters. He only gets a yellow card, however.

50": O'Shea argues for Van Persie going to ground, then brings RVP down to get a yellow card. Van Persie’s free-kick on-target but easily headed away.

46": And United look to finish this game 18 points in the lead in the Premier League. What can Sunderland do?

Half time

Titus Bramble scored on 27 minutes, not Van Persie, but that means nothing as Sunderland are giving United a walk in the park. Alex Buttner has been impressive and Fergie has more to worry about injuries -  Rafael, off, Vidic, still playing – than Sunderland.

United need at least two more goals on feels. Remember last season?!

44": Bardsley gives the ball away, but Sunderland escape as Young and Van Persie spurn opening. Van persie strikes a fierce kick 25 yards from goal, but Mignolet is well positioned to tip over the bar. Van Persie ends the half with a another sizzling volley, but it’s way over.

37": Van Persie is shooting on sight and hits a cross from the left straight at Mignolet. Meanwhile, Young is lucky not to collect a yellow card for a clip on Sessegnon.
United were almost in again with Kagawa setting Anderson up only for a last ditch tackle.

33": United win a free-kick. Young curls but Mignolet dives and saves. Also, note, N'Diaye is booked for lunging tackle on Valencia.

30": Rafael off injured, Evans on. Vidic still looks in trouble with his back.

29": Van Persie claims the goal, but replays show his angled shot from the left hit Bramble on the knee. An own goal, say the pundits, so maybe Van Persie still has to score.

20": United will begin to get nervous the longer it stays scoreless. Meanwhile, O'Shea looks like he is winded but recovers soon enough.
United pressing but Sunderland defence holding firm. Van Persie also looking nervy. United entered this match having gone 537 minutes in the Premier League without conceding a goal.

15": Buttner goes on a run from the left flank (he has done that before), finds himself through, but Mignolet blocks. 

Anderson then threads a class pass through for Buttner, but Mignolet is quickly off his line.

8": Sunderland win the first corner of the game. Gardner’s shot charged down. Then Bardsley handles the ball just outside the Sunderland ‘D’ but Young wastes the chance.

5": United’s first attempt on target. Van Persie's header from is weak. Then De Gea makes a hash of a clearing, but flag up for offside against Sessegnon.

2": Vidic showing signs of back trouble. Worry for United.

0": No Wayne Rooney. Man Utd have a Sunderland memory to wipe out. They lost the title last year despite beating Sunderland. All pundits surprised by stength of Fergie's team selection.

STARTING LINE-UPS

Sunderland

Mignolet, Bardsley, O'Shea, Bramble, Rose,
Johnson, N'Diaye, Gardner, McClean,
Sessegnon, Graham

Manchester United

De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Buttner,
Valencia, Anderson, Carrick, Young,
Kagawa, Van Persie

Subs: Patrice Evra, Nani, Anders Lindegaard, Jonny Evans, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Nick Powell

RVP back to score

A section of the press has not hesitated in beginning to mention Robin Van Persie and Fernando Torres in the same sentence. That is because RVP has had a bit of a drought before the international break.

However, for Holland he has scored three goals in a week and Sir Alex believes that is the key.

"Van Persie scoring was the most pleasing thing about the break for me actually," Sir Alex said at his weekly press conference. " It's the same with all strikers. When they hit that little dry spell, they're hoping to get out of it as quickly as they can. Hopefully, those goals for Holland will help him to do that. His form has not changed, that's the most important thing, but the goals will certainly help and there's no question about that."

Scholes in?

Manchester United are back to their grinding best; grinding out 1-0 wins that is. Manchester City's shock defeat at Everton was met with a 1-0 win over Reading .

As of now, all of United’s international stars have returned to Carrington safely health and are available for selection. But with an FA Cup meeting at Chelsea on Monday, Paul

Scholes and Phil Jones could both return from injury and Anders Lindegaard may feature.

Sunderland, however, are without top scorer Steven Fletcher and Lee Cattermole. Early reports suggest Stephane Sessegnon and David Vaughan are also facing a battle to be fit.

Head-to-head

Manchester United have the better record in the league with 54 wins. Sunderland have won 45 encounters, with 28 draws.

Smalling big on Fergie’s swap game

Around this time last year, Sir Alex Ferguson was about to pay the price for not having a settled back four for the season.

Manchester United would eventually throw away a home lead to draw with Everton and go on to lose the title to Manchester City on goal difference.

With a 15 point lead going into today afternoon’s game against Sunderland, that is unlikely to happen.
Not only do United have a strong back four – they have at least four different settled options for full backs.

At the heart of it to close out the season may now be Chris Smalling.
Returning from the international break, Smalling played with five different defenders in two fixtures  - San Marino and Montenegro.

Speaking to Inside United Smalling said: “In training we’re always swapping around so I’ll play with Phil [Jones], Rio [Ferdinand], Vida [Nemanja Vidic] and Jonny [Evans]. I’m always comfortable with whoever I play alongside.”

Such flexibility could be key the Red Devils will play twice inside 48 hours, after Sunderland, away to Chelsea on Monday at 12:30 GMT.
Is Smalling ready?

“It’s very rare that you’ll know much before a game whether you’re playing in it or not,” Smalling told the magazine. “For a Saturday game, we’ll stay in a hotel on the Friday night and then you’ll usually only know the team a couple of hours before the game. You just have to make sure you're prepared so you can be called upon whenever.”

As for being prepared, Smalling says, “You need to talk a lot straight away: to keep yourself and your team-mates alive to the opponents around you. You need to get your bearings because the strikers will be making all sorts of movements. If you make a mistake or you’re too slow you'll get punished, so you need to concentrate all the time."
 

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