United Fail To Deliver.

Sunderland 2 Manchester United 1

In a match that at least on paper United should have won fairly easily ended in a defeat which not only leaves top four qualification in the balance, but also throws fresh doubt on Louis van Gaal's position as manager.

Outplayed, out-thought and outgunned by a Sunderland side fighting for their Premiership survival United offered little in the way of ideas of how to compete with the Black Cats.

Coming into this match United's Premier League away record against the Sunderland was impressive, having played fourteen and won nine of them and having only lost one. So, a victory was definitely on the cards for the Red Devils bearing in mind the style of attacking play they had put on in the last three games and the fact that Sunderland has been struggling for most of the season.

Under new manager Sam Allardyce they have started to put a run of form together and pulled an unlikely draw out of the hat away at Anfield last week after falling behind by two goals.

After sticking with the same side for the last two matches van Gaal decided a slight reshuffle was needed and chose this starting XI: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Mata, Lingard, Rooney and Martial.

The manager made only one change to the starting eleven and that was to rest Fellaini completely as he brought Schneiderlin back to the midfield to partner Carrick.

The surprises were on the bench as there were three youngsters called up to join the first team and they were defender Donald Love, midfielder James Weir and striker Will Keane who netted five goals against Norwich City last week in an under 21 match. In fact, the U21s are now leaders in their league above, ironically, today's opponents Sunderland.

Sunderland got the game underway on a bitterly cold afternoon and before any of the players could get warmed up the hosts took the lead from a Khazri free-kick that went through everyone and caught De Gea off guard as he dived late and was unable to stop the ball creeping in at the far post.

Great start for the home side after only three minutes not so much for the visitors but there was still a long way to go in the match and more than enough time for United to put things right.

It was almost 2-0 for Sunderland after ten minutes when the ball was bubbling around De Gea's six-yard area only for Defoe to thankfully miss kick his shot under pressure from Smalling.

United had played in some decent balls into the opposition area without being able to cause any worry to former red O'Shea and his defence. They were also guilty of giving away needless free kicks while attacking in the final third. So far, this was not the same United side that had performed well in the last three outings.

In the opening half an hour Sunderland was on top of the match and had created the better chances, including a fair shout for a penalty against Schneiderlin. It seemed that the wind had been knocked out of United's sails by that early goal.

Mata had the first clear chance on goal for United with a snapshot from the edge of the area which was fired directly into the keeper's hands.

Ten minutes before the break Darmian was involved in a collision with goalscorer Khazri which clearly caused the Italian defender immense pain in his right shoulder that forced him off.

Then all the away fans raised the roof as Anthony Martial scored a sublime equaliser five minutes before half time. It all came from a passing move that ended with Mata firing a rasping drive that the keeper Mannone could only parry into the path of Martial who dinked the ball over the keeper into the net. A lovely finish which brought United right back into the game.

Before the restart, Donald Love replaced Darmian at right back to make his first team debut for United. With his surname and tomorrow being Valentines day it could have been a writer's dream for the headlines.

Half-time and it ended 1-1 thanks in no small part to Martial's awareness in front of goal. His quickness of feet is a joy to watch and the way he executed the little chip over the keeper shows how much confidence he has in his own ability.

The equaliser was the only bright spark on an otherwise dull display from United and with Darmian leaving the play with a shoulder problem, it could prove very expensive indeed with games coming thick and fast. The players were well below par and would drastically have to lift their game in the second half.

United started the second half with two youngsters Borthwick-Jackson and Love in the full back positions and no further changes.

Rooney had been fairly quiet in the first half and started the second by having his name taken for a careless trip on Cattermole.

It was Sunderland who started on the front foot and Defoe almost caused Blind to score an own goal which gratefully didn't happen as the ball squirmed past De Gea's post with the keeper beaten.

Mata became the next United player to be cautioned after he had bamboozled himself lost the ball and tripped up the defender. To be honest, it was a harsh booking as the ref should have laughed it off along with everyone else. Then Carrick gave Marriner no option but to book him after he fouled M'Vila right under the ref's nose.

Not a good start from United who were all at sixes and sevens and needed a straight head to guide them through this rocky period of play.

There was a very dangerous moment for United when N'Doye was put clean through the away defence and he struck his shot well when in a one on one position with De Gea but not for the first time this season the Spaniard stuck out his size 9's and saved a certain goal.

On the hour mark van Gaal made a change in attack when he replaced Lingard with Memphis who was celebrating his 22nd birthday.

United's passing had been terrible all day with Mata being the main culprit when in a forward position and Carrick comes a close second.

The Red Devils had De Gea to thank again as he pulled a save from his vast repertoire by tipping over a drive from close range by Kone. There are not enough adjectives to describe United's keeper at the moment he really is on top of his game.

As the final ten minutes approached the visitors enjoyed a spell of pressure, which resulted in a string of corners that had no end result as the Sunderland defence cleared them all too easily.

Disjointed could be used to describe United's play in this match as they looked at times like they had never played together before.

Van Gaal stated that Memphis had had his confidence boosted by his appearance for the U21s in midweek but that confidence was nowhere to be seen as he shot weakly towards the goal when he should have blasted it into the back of the net.

After being denied by De Gea earlier, Kone broke United's hearts by putting the Black Cats back into the lead with a header that somehow went under the keeper's body on the line. The winner was unfortunately put down as a De Gea own goal which was a shame as he had pulled off some fine stops prior to the goal.

Five minutes on the clock and with his side trailing van Gaal tried his last throw of the dice by replacing Schneiderlin with Keane in an attempt to save the game.

Memphis tried his luck with a curler that the keeper managed to punch away as United tried to save face. This was followed by O'Shea, who clearly hand balled a Memphis shot, but the referee only awarded a corner much to the disgust of Rooney and his teammates. There were a few shouts for penalties throughout the game and maybe Marriner felt he couldn't award one when he didn't give the others.

Full time and it ended in a 2-1 defeat that has left a very bad taste in the mouth. A result that has to go down as one of the worst of a season of many not so much for the fact that United lost against a team that has been struggling near the bottom all season but more for the fact that they performed so poorly.

United failed miserably to take an advantage in the race for a top four position with all the top four teams playing each other over the weekend. A victory would have seen United close the gap over City to just three points. However, once again van Gaal's side just didn't turn up for a fight.

There are only twelve Premier League matches remaining that will define United's season and they will surely have a strong bearing on whether Louis van Gaal will still be at the helm come next season. Failure to finish the campaign in one of the coveted top four positions will only add fire to the rumours surrounding the impending arrival of the self-proclaimed special one Jose Mourinho.

There is a backdoor chance of qualification for the Champions League via the Europa League, which starts this week with a first-leg tie away in Denmark against Midtjylland.

The quandary for van Gaal and his team is how seriously they take the tournament as on the one hand, it's the only European competition United have yet to win and along with the FA Cup it is their only realistic chance of silverware. On the other hand, a sustained run could hamper their league form through fitness and more injuries.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

There's a new Martial in town.

He has endured comparisons galore by being dubbed the new Henry, Anelka and Kluivert but there is one thing for certain Anthony Martial has the potential to surpass all of their achievements and become a great among the greats at Old Trafford.

When the 19-year-old arrived at United at the end of the transfer window many eyebrows were raised, not only at United but around the football world, at the size of the fee paid for such a young talent.

The French teenager was signed from Monaco by Louis van Gaal for a fee that will rise to around £50m depending on how successful his career at United turns out to be. There was obviously something that the manager saw in him that many hadn't to make him the most expensive teenager in world football.

The United fans spent the summer trying to second guess who was the one striker that van Gaal had mentioned would be joining the Red Devils, Was it to be Muller, Benzema, Griezmann, Cavani or even Bale? But he surprised everyone by turning his attention to a youngster, who, although well known in France was relatively unknown in England.

However, from the moment that Martial made his debut for United as a scoring substitute in the 3-1 victory over arch rivals Liverpool all that changed and changed dramatically.

The manager had warned the faithful not to get too carried away with the striker, but that was not easy as he then went on to score three more goals, including a double away at Southampton and one in the League Cup against Ipswich Town all scored with that certain quality only a class striker has. His tally so far has equalled Falcao's total for all of last season.

His latest star turn came in the Premiership at Old Trafford in which, although he failed to score against Sunderland he put on a display of such maturity, strength and confidence it was as if he had led the line at United for years instead of only weeks.

The skill he showed in the assist for the Rooney goal was impressive and he also used his power and awareness to set up Memphis who really should have done better. At no time in the match did he shirk his responsibilities and on many occasions during the game he was surrounded by three or four defenders, which shows that opposition players have already woken up to his threat as a forward.

The impressive striker must be full of confidence after all the plaudits coming his way and it is so easy for a young talent to have their head turned by all the attention, especially at a club the size of United, however, there is one important factor in keeping his feet firmly on the ground and that is he is married and has a baby daughter.

Having such a young family means that he won't be spotted coming out of clubs late at night, but will most likely be snapped pushing a pram around shopping centers. Fergie would have loved him.

Along with the likes of Memphis, Shaw, Lingard, Pereira and Wilson, Martial joins a young group of players who have brought the belief back to the team that the future at the club is bright and they will provide the springboard for future success at United.

With all the attributes that Martial possesses he has the chance to write his name into the United folklore much the same as another deadly assassin did, a certain Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, now there's a comparison.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

Man United League Leaders.

Manchester United 3 Sunderland 0

Manchester United defeated bottom of the league side Sunderland at Old Trafford and returned to the summit of the Premier League for the first time since 2013.

As United geared up for a busy period, which will see them take on Wolfsburg, Arsenal and Man City, the Old Trafford outfit welcomed Sunderland to the Theatre of Dreams with the hope of another three points that would keep up their momentum in the Premier League on the back of victories over Liverpool and Southampton.

The stand-out performer so far has to be Anthony Martial who continued his scoring exploits against Ipswich by netting a late goal in the 3-0 win that has given him a wonderful start to his United career having scored four goals in four matches equalling Falcao's total for all of last season.

The manager has warned the fans about getting over excited with the French youngster, but it is hard to ignore the Solskjaer like finishing qualities of the 19-year-old. His technique in front of goal is sublime to say the least.

Louis van Gaal chose a starting eleven that was more than capable of dealing with the bottom of the table Black Cats: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Darmian; Schneiderlin, Carrick; Mata, Rooney, Memphis and Martial.

Darmian would start in the left back position for the first time this season. It's not a position he is unfamiliar with as he often switched between right and left back while at Torino. Both Carrick and Schneiderlin returned to the midfield allowing Schweinsteiger and Herrera to have a rest on the bench.

Martial's tremendous form meant that he would start the game and Memphis was also recalled to the side. With Pereira on the bench, United ensured that they had a youth produced player involved in the matchday squad, a record that extends way back to 1937.

Subs: Romero, Jones, Herrera, Schweinsteiger, Pereira, Young and Fellaini.

United took only five minutes to create their first chance of the game when temporary left back Darmian surged down the wing and delivered a well-worked cross that, unfortunately, eluded everyone.

Shortly after, Martial showed his immense composure on the ball while surrounded by three defenders on the edge of the box by holding them off and winning a free kick that Mata wasted with a poor ball into the area.

It was an overly patient approach by the home side as if they were biding their time to strike at the heart of the away side. Mata almost made the breakthrough with a shot that was deflected for a corner.

The giant that is Pantilimon in the Sunderland goal made a costly error when he handled the ball outside his area to gift United a free-kick in a promising position, however, once again Mata squandered the opportunity. Where's Pereira when you need him most?

The away side's first real attempt on goal came in the 23rd minute, but the strike was well blocked by that man De Gea.

Half an hour in and it was the same old story for United this season as they enjoyed the majority of possession but created nothing of note in the final third.

Bottom of the table Sunderland took a leaf out of fellow North East strugglers Newcastle's book in the art of defending and their clear time-wasting started to anger the Old Trafford faithful as it broke up any rhythm to United's play.

There was a worrying moment when Martial went to ground clutching his right knee after chasing down Cattermole. Luckily for the side the youngster eventually got up, dusted himself off and got on with the game.

United wasted yet another free kick after a Johnson handball and this time it was Memphis who took the responsibility, but strangely he hit his effort so weakly that the keeper could have visited the club's museum before collecting the ball.

The breakthrough eventually came in injury time when Blind played a delightful ball into the area which Mata managed to connect with at the far post and his square ball found Memphis who steered the ball over the line to score his first Premier League goal for United and give the Red Devils the lead at half-time.

A first half, which was disappointing in the fact that United failed to produce any decent efforts on goal until a moment of quality from Daley Blind which opened the Black Cats determined defence.

The second half started perfectly as United's new hero Martial collected the ball inside the area and dribbled to the byline before delivering a ball into the six-yard box, which Rooney managed to deflect into the net to make the scoreline 2-0.

The goal by the captain was not only his first Premier League goal of the season, but also equalled Denis Law's league record of 171 goals for the club.

The second goal should have inspired the home side, but it was Sunderland who seemed galvanised by it as they brought an instinctive reaction save from De Gea among a crowd of players down by his near post. The Spaniard came to the rescue again on the hour mark as he saved with his legs when one on one with van Aanholt.

Just before the regular change of Schweinsteiger for Carrick for the last twenty minutes there was an excellent chance for Memphis to grab his second of the day and put the match well out of Sunderland's reach. Martial stormed forward with power and played a perfect pass into the path of Memphis, but when a goal looked certain the keeper came out and blocked the Dutch forward's effort.

Martial almost continued his scoring record when he got his head to a Valencia cross, however, the ball whistled just over the crossbar.

Blind took a nasty knock to the face in an accidental collision and was substituted by the manager with Jones coming on in his place.  Thankfully Blind looked none the worse for wear as he came off.

The final change of the game was Young for the lively Memphis and straight away Young interchanged passes with Rooney, who played the ball to Mata, but his first-time effort was well saved down low by the keeper.

The last ten minutes were played out in a pedestrian fashion with the home fans blaring out to the watching world that United was once again top of the league.

There was still time for Mata to add the icing on the cake when he put the ball away following excellent wing play by Young to make the score a deserving 3-0.

In the move for the goal Young showed once again that he is in superb form and fully deserves the plaudits he receives for his willingness to be patient and take his chance whenever it comes.

Full time and an important win that took the side to the number one spot even though having not played particularly well. However, it's the result that counts at the end of the day.

There were many players who deserve special mention including Darmian, who handled his defensive change without putting a foot wrong and along with his partners, Smalling, Blind and Valencia, ensured that Sunderland didn't really get a look in. In the middle, Schneiderlin produced his normal effective performance without any fuss and Mata once again showed his class and grabbed his first Old Trafford goal of the season.

But it is the French youngster Martial who has given United a new dimension to their attacking style of play and fully deserves to be named man of the match for his all-round display of strength and determination in attack. Although he failed to find the net in this game his overall play ensured that United had the upper hand when on the attack and he certainly has a mature head on his shoulders for a nineteen-year-old.

Let us celebrate the fact that United are back where they belong at the top of the league for the first time since the days of Alex Ferguson. This time under the philosophy of Louis van Gaal.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

Rooney at the double.

Manchester United 2 Sunderland 0

'We cannot deny that at this moment we don’t have a striker who scores 20 goals in the season.' These were the words uttered by Louis van Gaal prior to the match against Sunderland at Old Trafford.

Well, the truth is he does have that striker right under his nose, Wayne Rooney, who proved yet again that his best position in the side is up front where his goal scoring talents belong. His performance against Sunderland should be enough for the manager to keep him there. However, with van Gaal you never know.

After the disappointment of last weeks defeat in Wales, it was back to Old Trafford and the visit of the Black Cats from the North East. Now we enter into the last 12 matches of the Premier League so it was critical to start on another unbeaten run of matches.

There had been some bad and good news on the injury front during the build up to the match with Robin van Persie's ankle injury expected to keep him out for the next few weeks but on the positive side Michael Carrick was training again and was to be included in the squad.

Louis van Gaal's main headache with the team selection was who he would use in the attack as many fans were calling for a Rooney and Wilson strikeforce with others in the Rooney and Falcao corner. In the end, the manager went for the latter.

United's starting eleven: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Evans, Rojo, Blind, Herrera, Young, Di Maria, Rooney and Falcao. Subs: Lindegaard, McNair, Carrick, Fellaini, Mata, Januzaj and Wilson. This side meant five changes for United, with Valencia, Smalling, Evans, Young & Falcao all returning to the side and Fellaini dropped to the bench.

Ander Herrera was most definitely back in the good books as he started yet again but there was not such good news for Juan Mata who has now not started a league game for six weeks, when he was hauled off at half-time against QPR.

It would be interesting to see how United's two center backs Evans and Smalling would perform after coming under scrutiny so many times this season

United started the match attacking the Scoreboard End and facing two former reds in the Sunderland defence Wes Brown and John O'Shea.

Ashley Young started brightly down the left trying his luck with a few early crosses which resulted in a couple of corners the last of which taken by Di Maria was met by Rooney with his head but lacked both power and accuracy.

On 5 minutes Sunderland broke through the middle with Wickham who was allowed without challenge to take the ball a long way into United's half and let fly with a shot that David de Gea thankfully pushed away for a corner.

Shortly afterwards, Rooney gave the ball away deep in his own half and Defoe pounced and tried his luck from distance thankfully it was nowhere near the target. Yet again poor passing and a lack of defensive cohesion in the opening ten minutes made Sunderland look better than they really are and gave them a foothold in the match.

In the 12th minute Falcao made a good claim for a penalty after he seemed to be shoved to the ground inside the area but referee Roger East waved play on and as the ball was cleared Young hit a thunderous volley which went wide but deserved better.

Rooney and Falcao were simply not on the same wavelength as a couple of touches they attempted to each other came to nothing. At one point in the opening exchanges, Falcao was bustled off the ball from which Defoe was given yet another sight of goal this time he was on target but the impressive de Gea was equal to it.

The most infuriating aspect of the game in the early stages was that all the visitors chances originated from United's mistakes and the errors were really basic in nature.

After 19 minutes, it was the turn of Di Maria to misplace a pass straight into the path of the Sunderland attackers which amounted to nothing serious in the end but that's not the point. It's worrying having the defence make mistakes without our world class talent joining in.

As the game evolved you could see that Wes Brown had Falcao totally in his pocket and was marshaling the Colombian well.

At last in the 27th minute a great move down the right started by Di Maria when he played the ball out wide to Antonio Valencia who in turn lashed in a wicked cross which was met at the far post by the impressive Young who let fly with a shot that O'Shea managed to get a touch on and in doing so diverted the ball onto the crossbar and out of danger.

Now United started to get going mainly through Di Maria who won a free-kick 30 yards out which he elected to take himself but ended up going too high over the bar. This season United's set pieces have been really terrible with the record signing being the biggest culprit.

Ashley Young was the star of the half and went close with a typical right footed curler in the 34th minute.

In the 37th minute, another free-kick and this time Rooney fancied his luck but it was easily turned over for a corner by keeper Pantilimon. From the resulting corner, Rojo had a snapshot which almost found it's way through to goal.

Five minutes from half-time and again great work from Young as he crossed low into the box to exactly where Falcao should have been but for some reason the Colombian had run backwards away from the play and the hard work of Young was wasted.

A break from Di Maria in the dying moments of the half ended with the Argentinian electing to pass to Falcao which was a mistake as he should have picked out Young who was totally unmarked inside the box, yet again a poor selection from Di Maria which has been the story of his play of late.

Brown and O'Shea must have been very pleased how the half ended after they had not allowed Rooney and especially Falcao a clear chance on goal proving that experience, not class can win matches.

Half time and at 0-0 it had been another disappointing display from United with a lack of imagination in their game. Everything smacked of desperation which led to panic moments which in turn gave the visitors more chances than they could have believed they would have had.

Falcao spent most of the first half on his backside after being brushed off the ball far too easily and his positioning play was woeful. The only positive was the performance of Ashley Young who tried to instill some urgency into the attacks and was unlucky not to be on the scoresheet.

A quiet crowd as there was really nothing to cheer about even though they did try to rally the team by shouting Attack! Attack! Attack! but that clearly wasn't heard by the players.

Louis van Gaal decided to make a change at the start of the second half by bringing on Adnan Januzaj in place of Angel Di Maria. After under performing in his previous outings, this was a great opportunity for the Belgian to prove his worth.

Right from the start Jonny Evans put a stop to a Sunderland break in the first minute by sticking out his foot just at the right time.

Blind started a good passing move straight down the middle exchanging one-twos with Herrera and Rooney eventually the move broke down but it showed the quality that Blind has as he quietly goes about his job in midfield.

In the 52nd minute there was a move that summed up United's lack of communication as there was a rare misunderstanding between Young and Rojo as the England international played a ball to the space on his left where he thought his colleague would be running into but Rojo had in fact stopped running completely.

After an hour of play van Gaal had seen enough of Falcao and ordered his second Belgian substitute Fellaini to warm up. As he was doing this Valencia won a free kick on the right that Rooney swung over and it was headed clear only to the waiting Januzaj who connected really well but couldn't keep it on target, better from United.

Then in the 63rd minute the complexion of the game changed completely. As Falcao, who was about to be taken off, turned well in the area but was impeded by both Wes Brown and John O'Shea which resulted in a penalty.

Afer a comical few minutes Wes Brown was given his marching orders but took a long time to leave the pitch as he argued correctly that it was, in fact, his defensive partner John O'shea who had committed the foul, not him.

Some two minutes later captain Rooney stepped up and blasted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.

That was the last action Falcao would see as he was hooked off by van Gaal and replaced with Fellaini. Apart from winning the penalty he had done absolutely nothing of worth and I will be surprised if he is not sent back to Monaco at the end of this season unless he starts contributing more to the team.

Good old Ashley Young was still running his socks off down the left-hand side and pinging crosses over into the danger area one of which Januzaj was unlucky not to connect with properly. If any player deserved a goal or assist it was Young.

Leading 1-0 and playing against ten men United started to play with less panic and more confidence by passing the ball around well and in the 72nd minute it almost opened up for Fellaini but he blasted the ball high and wide.

In the following ten minutes, United had corners, free-kicks and crosses to try their luck with but nobody could find the direction to trouble the keeper. Both Smalling and Rojo tried with their heads but to no avail.

On many occasions, Januzaj had the chance to provide telling crosses but selected to shoot from tight angles which clearly infuriated his forwards. He should watch and learn from the likes of Young who had spent all the match trying to set up his teammates rather than chase glory.

The second goal came in the 84th minute when Wayne Rooney scored his second by latching on to a rebound off the keeper with his head from close range after one of those shots by Januzaj. 2-0 and no way back for Sunderland.

With that in mind van Gaal brought on Mata for goal hero Rooney for the last five minutes with one eye on the Newcastle match in midweek.

In the dying seconds, the whole ground thought that Herrera had added a third after Fellaini had missed a great chance but as the ball was put back into the area the Spaniard was just offside. Unlucky for Herrera as that goal would have kept up his good recent scoring record.

In the end a win and three very valuable points gained by United who temporarily moved up into third place in the league. This was a match which on paper seemed fairly straight forward but due to the home team's own mistakes wasn't. Until the penalty decision it was difficult to see where the goals would come from.

The United players seem shackled and lack the ability to express themselves and play with a freedom that would rip opposing teams apart. Maybe when they have the guarantee of Champions League football under their belt they will be released from the tactical responsibilities and finish the season in true style, we can only hope.

If man of the match Ashley Young and captain Wayne Rooney can keep fit and continue in this vein for the run in then United have a chance to finish in one of the Champions League places. The brace were Rooney's first Premier League goals in 2015 and at last he's back in the position where he is the most dangerous but for how long only the manager knows.

Next up is a tricky away trip to St James' Park to take on Newcastle United on Wednesday evening but with Rooney firing again I fully expect United to grab all three points as he has an impressive record against the Magpies having netted 11 times in 18 matches.

Then it's the return of the FA Cup and a big chance to pile the misery on Arsenal who looked terrible against Monaco in the Champions League. It was very pleasing to see former Red Devil Dimitar Berbatov grab a goal against the Gunners in that match.

Thanks again for taking the time to read.

Miles Dunton.