SUNDERLAND 0, MANCHESTER UNITED 3
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic opens the scoring after 30 minutes
- Bryan Oviedo goes off injured
- Seb Larsson harshly sent off for a lunge on Ander Herrera on 42 minutes
- Henrikh Mkhitaryan doubles that lead 47 seconds into the second half before a Sunderland player could touch the ball
- Marcus Rashford makes it 3-0 on the break in the 89th minute
The Swedish contingent at The Stadium of Light had plenty to talk about while ex-United boss David Moyes saw his hopes of getting anything out of this game for Sunderland evaporate just seconds into the second half as Manchester United kept their top-four hopes alive with a controversial victory.
Goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan either side of an injury to Bryan Oviedo and a harsh red card for Seb Larsson effectively finished off the Black Cats as Manchester United moved to within four points of Manchester City in fourth with a game in hand.
Marcus Rashford made sure of the result a minute from time as United contained what little threat the home side had left in the second half.
Jose Mourinho made five changes from the side that drew against Everton ahead of United’s game against Anderlecht on Thursday.
Luke Shaw kept his place in the side while David De Gea was not risked ahead of United’s game against Chelsea next week after developing “a little problem”.
Sergio Romero came in for De Gea while Daley Blind, Michael Carrick, Marcus Rashford, and Ashley Young were rested ahead of the Europa League tie in Belgium.
They were replaced by Matteo Darmian, Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marouane Fellaini was surprisingly handed the captain’s armband for the game at Sunderland.
Sunderland resisted the United surge for half an hour and had chances through Lee Cattermole and Jermain Defoe before they found themselves behind to a moment of Zlatan Ibrahimovic genius which lit up an otherwise workmanlike opening period.
The Swede held up the ball with his back to goal after being found by Ander Herrera before instantly creating space and taking two defenders out of the game and curling a strike from the edge of the box past the helpless Jordan Pickford for his 28th goal of the season.
Marouane Fellaini was thwarted by Bryan Oviedo four minutes later as he tried to get to a tempting Luke Shaw cut-back from the byline.
Oviedo went off with an injury shortly afterwards in another blow to the Black Cats’ survival hopes, replaced by Javi Manquillo as United dominated the rest of the first half.
Romero was called into action to block a shot by Victor Anichebe with his chest after a cross had taken the United defence by surprise 5 minutes before half time.
Controversial red card for Seb Larsson
The nightmare wasn’t over as Seb Larsson was sent off harshly for a lunge on Herrera on 42 minutes.
The Swede was understandably furious at the decision which left the home side at a numerical disadvantage.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan capped off a fine 15-pass United move seconds into the second half after drifting into the area with the ball and driving it past Pickford after taking a pass from Luke Shaw for his eighth goal of the campaign.
Pickford was in the wars after colliding with Ibrahimovic on the edge of his area as both raced towards Herrera’s through ball four minutes later.
Sunderland’s hopes rested with Jermain Defoe but his free kick on the hour was a fairly routine take for Romero and the England striker was feeding on scraps for the rest of the game before United put Sunderland out of their misery in the 89th minute.
Marcus Rashford ran onto Paul Pogba’s well judged long pass upfield on the break, exchanged passes with Ibrahimovic, and then picked his spot inside the far post. It was Rashford’s eighth goal of the season and his first Premier League goal since September last year.
Ibrahimovic passed up the chance to make it 4-0 in injury time when Pickford got in the way of the Swede and guided him away from a shooting position.