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VIEW MATCH REPORT

Sunday 16 Oct 2005
Man United win again.....
But was it really that convincing????

So this was it. Sunderland's big opportunity to show the world that their recent mini-revival was more than a flash in the pan. Chief playmakers Julio Arca and Christian Bassila were injured, but two men don't make a team, right?
Wrong. At least that was the lunchtime opinion inside the Colliery Tavern near the stadium. 'We're stuffed, that's for sure,' said the Peter Crouch lookalike at the bar. 'I just can't see where the spark is gonna come from without Arca. He's the man.'

As it turned out, Sunderland had plenty of spark, with Stephen Elliott and Andy Welsh giving United's defence plenty to think about. But the big man's assessment was right. That spark still wasn't enough. It rarely is when you are up against Wayne Rooney.
One goal scored, one goal made. Yet this will go down as one of the boy wonder's quieter games of the season. He had barely touched the ball until the 40th minute, when a Park Ji-Sung pass sent him baring down on the Sunderland goal with only Kelvin Davis to beat. Round the goalkeeper he went, squeezing the ball in from a tight angle despite the desperate attempts of Justin Hoyte on the line.

Until that point, the match had been all Sunderland. They could, perhaps should, have been two ahead, but continually paid the price for wanting an extra touch in front of goal. Gary Breen's header from a Liam Lawrence corner was goalbound until Edwin Van der Sar pawed the ball on to his left post and away to safety. Minutes later, Welsh dallied when unmarked in front of goal, allowing the Holland goalkeeper to spring off his line and snaffle the danger.

Rooney's opener visibly deflated Sunderland, with United taking control throughout the early stages of the second half largely through the efforts of the outstanding Paul Scholes and Park in midfield. The South Korea winger almost scored a goal himself, but his 20-yard effort was cleared off the line by Breen.

Sure enough, a second goal duly arrived after 76 minutes. Rooney shrugged off two challenges before laying the ball into the path of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who beat the exposed Davis from 15 yards.

That seemed to stir Sunderland, who reduced the deficit six minutes later thanks to Elliott's outstanding curled effort from 25 yards. They could even have equalised when substitute Anthony Le Tallec's free-kick brought a marvellous save low to his right by Van der Sar, with Elliott thrashing the rebound high into the stands.

As it was, United scored from the next attack to seal all three points. And for the first time this season in the league it was someone other than Rooney or Van Nistelrooy doing the honours. Step forward Giuseppe Rossi, who capped his debut as a substitute by cracking home a 20-yard shot with the aid of the slightest deflection off Breen.

'I'd hate to be in the Premier League for 38 games and get relegated having not had a go,' Mick McCarthy said. 'We were disappointed to lose by 3-1 because that put a gloss on a scoreline that wasn't there for them. I felt we were playing well, but we got mugged on the break. Then again, the ball did fall to someone who I regard as a very special player in Rooney.

'But he has really hacked me off. England are relying on him to win the World Cup in Germany next summer. Why should I bother myself about him? I don't want to say too much about him because he is the one who has beaten us.'

The Sunderland manager spent much of the afternoon sarcastically applauding the travelling supporters for all the pro-Roy Keane chanting being thrown in his general direction, though the crowd was more than nine thousand short of capacity and there were significantly fewer United fans here than have turned up with other sides this season.

For Sir Alex Ferguson, there was the added pleasure of watching his side score three goals away from home for the second successive match. 'The only real disappointment of our season so far was the home defeat to Blackburn because we missed so many chances,' he said.

'We can't afford to do that, so hopefully scoring three goals away at Fulham and again today will help confidence.'

Man of the match: Wayne Rooney - was at the hub of every attack of note.