SUNDERLAND 2, MANCHESTER UNITED 1
Wahbi Khazri with free kick after just 3 minutes
United lose another full back – Matteo Darmian – with dislocated shoulder
Donald Love makes United debut, could be in line for more appearances at right back
Anthony Martial hits equaliser with cheeky tap-in before half time
Lamine Kone header goes in off David De Gea after another Khazri set piece in the 82nd minute
Louis Van Gaal admits top four finish will be “difficult”
Sam Allardyce’s Sunderland dealt another huge blow to Manchester United’s hopes of a top four finish to qualify for the Champions League after goals by Wahbi Khazri and Lamine Kone settled a vital game for the Black Cats.
United had made just one change from the side that had suffered a late Diego Costa equaliser at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea with Marouane Fellaini, who had been involved in the Reds’ matchday squad since November, rested and replaced by Morgan Schneiderlin.
A draw against Chelsea was already a big blow to United’s Champions League hopes but defeat may have irreparably holed their top four challenge.
Under fire Reds manager Louis Van Gaal echoed the words of his captain Wayne Rooney when he admitted that a top four finish would now be difficult to achieve after United were eclipsed by a battling Sunderland side in the second half but he vowed to fight on.
Van Gaal said: “It’s a big blow. I said we have to win this match because we have to be in the race for the top four positions in the league.
“You have to win these kinds of matches but today we didn’t play a very good game.
“We can only blame ourselves because the hunger and aggression of Sunderland was much higher than our aggression.
“We know that they want to play like that and it’s difficult but you have to cope with it.”
It was United’s first ever defeat in the Premier League at the Stadium of Light and has left them languishing in fifth place, six points adrift of Manchester City in fourth prior to their match against Tottenham tomorrow and in danger of being overtaken by clubs below them.
Defeat at Sunderland left Van Gaal’s United with just 41 points from 26 games, which compares with 42 points from 26 games in his predecessor David Moyes’ time in charge of the Reds in the 2013/14 season.
And, despite Anthony Martial’s first half goal, United have scored just 33 goals after 26 league games this season – fewer than in any season since 1989/90.
Although Sunderland saw little of the ball in the opening exchanges, Wahbi Khazri scored the Black Cats’ opening goal after just three minutes when his free kick was missed by David De Gea and the United defence and went in off the back post.
Both sides lost a player to first half injuries, with Jan Kirchoff suffering an early hamstring injury for Sunderland while United lost Matteo Darmian to a shoulder injury after an awkward fall on 39 minutes.
It was the latest injury to hit a United full back, with Darmian later confirmed to have dislocated his shoulder and facing several weeks out injured.
Donald Love, 21, replaced the Italian defender from United’s depleted bench for an under pressure Reds debut – Louis Van Gaal had four outfield youngsters on the bench alongside Memphis Depay and Ander Herrera – but the Reds were soon level.
Juan Mata had already had a shot saved by Vito Mannone on 30 minutes before he forced an important parry from Mannone soon after Love came on.
Anthony Martial scored his 10th goal of the season from the rebound on an acute angle after a composed dinked finish over the Italian ‘keeper who was slow to react to the danger.
Rather than press home the advantage from their first half momentum United seemed to go missing in the second half and the Black Cats saw chances for ex-Red John O’Shea and Jermain Defoe blocked by Rooney and Daley Blind.
Dame N’Doye was denied by the outstretched leg of De Gea before the Spanish ‘keeper pushed away Sunderland central defender Lamine Kone’s goalbound shot.
Kone beat Chris Smalling to a curling Rooney cross and was later instrumental in exposing United’s lackadaisical defending when headed home Khazri’s corner without a United player anywhere near him in the 82nd minute.
The ball went in off the luckless De Gea after Martial’s attempt to clear Kone’s effort off the line rebounded in off the Spaniard.
United simply didn’t have a response to going behind, and the introduction of young striker Will Keane from the bench for his first United appearance for over four years didn’t have the desired effect.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League through a fourth place Premier League finish may leave the Reds having to lift the Europa League trophy to qualify, but the clamour to remove Van Gaal from his post before the summer will only grow if results continue to drift.