review: Sunderland 0 v 4 MANCHESTER UNITED

Article by Mark Graham, Stats Nerd
Match Review
Sunderland 0 v 4 Manchester United, Stadium of Light, 15.00pm, Wednesday 26th December 2007.
Goals: Sunderland: n/a      Manchester United: Rooney (20) Saha (30), (86 pen), Ronaldo (45).
Attendance: 47,360

Manchester United sailed past Sunderland on route to the top of the Premiership after a "bit of Christmas sparkle" had left the Black Cats 3-0 down at half time with an impossible mountain to climb with the entire second half to play.

With SAF ringing in the changes, Evra, Anderson, Hargreaves, Tevez & Giggs were all rested as O'Shea, Fletcher, Nani, Saha & returning sub Ji Sung Park all saw action.

The Reds boosted with further Christmas joy earlier in the day saw a slip up by another title rival as the usually Scrooge like Chelsea Rentboys must have ate far too much Christmas dinner the day before, as an eight goal thriller left them with 4 goals conceded & in the process losing 2 starting players to straight Red cards in the form of Ricardo "Dirty B*stard" Carvalho & Ashley "Smug Tw*t" Cole.

This incorporating United's victory at the Stadium of Light left Chelsea 7 points adrift of table toppers United & with suspensions mounting & the African Cup of Nation looming, So Merry Christmas & F*ck off Chelsea your bubbles burst, your plastic fans have no opions anymore & you cant buy the League.

The best present of the night however would come some hours later in the form of a scoreless draw involving Portsmouth & Arsenal leaving the Reds atop of the pile.

Once the game had settled United started to find gaps in Sunderland defence & big gaps they were & on the twenty minute mark, United's best defensive performer of the day Wes Brown, exchange passes with Ronaldo, Brown then found a hole you could drive a tank through in the form of a pass resulting in Rooney finishing well past Craig Gordon for United's 1st.

United's second came from major involvement of Rooney as a text book counter attack saw Ronaldo feed Rooney who crossed on the left toward Saha, the French Striker met the perfect pass with a perfect touch & Gordon could only watch the ball enter the net again.

Craig Gordon continued to be harassed all night as more United chances came the young keepers way, a free kick from Ronaldo, a shot from Nani ,a Wes Brown header & a Nemanja Vidic effort from close range all tested the Sunderland goalkeeper to the max but keeping his team from an embarrassing score line.

Sunderland did briefly wake up the very bored Tomasz Kuszczak with a shot from Ross Wallace which the stand in Polish keeper tipped over the bar.

On the stroke of half time United were awarded a free kick just outside the box & Ronaldo obliged with his 17th goal of the season, an over the wall, dipping Beckham esq like free kick gave Gordon no chance but gave the Reds a 3-0 lead.

Putting this & last season into perspective, Ronaldo who had thee best season in United history from the position he plays scoring 23 times in all competitions, Do you think he is able to score another six times??, an important point is that at the beginning of the season he was Red carded against Portsmouth & missed games.   Scary............

The second half had few highlights compared to the 1st but Sunderland almost scored after Chopra's run gave Etuhu a chance of a shot, but he ballooned his effort over when he could have done much better.

Rooney almost made it four for the visitors but his shot was blocked well by Ex Red Paul McShane.

Sunderland still with a little fight left in them then had their best chance of the night as Kenwyne Jones using his strength shrugged off Vidic, turned & and shot at Tomasz Kuszczak who took the power out of the shot & gathered.

Ronaldo was then subbed for the returning Ji Sung Park who it has to be said played very well, slotting into his role after almost a year out and busied himself almost providing an assist after feeding Nani who from a tight angle from the left was inches wide with a shot.

With little or no time left United extended their lead & goal difference after Nani from the right beat Danny Collins as both players raced into the Sunderland penalty area shoulder to shoulder, with minimum contact but a foul conceded none the less Nani stumbled & went down in the ensuing battle and after Referee Rennie awarded a penalty, Saha fired home his spot kick for 4-0.

Do you know any Chelsea fans who aren't interested as they were a few seasons ago when a 10 point lead at the top had them all crowing to the high heavens??
Hands up if you though SAF had rested too many??
Is our squad so deep now its arguably be the best in the league??
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United's Man of the Match
Rooney scored one, Set up Saha for his goal & was magical, as was his partner Mr C.Ronaldo.

MUFC.COM's Reaction
(Editor: In my best Southern Accent "Caaaaaamon Pompeeee, Pompeee Playaaarrrppp", and they sure did as Ex Gunner Sol Campbell was a colossus at the back in doing so earned his team a point at home & sent United to the top of the league table at Xmas.

With Arse facing Everton @ Goodison & United facing an always tricky tie at the Hammers, maybe the gap, all being well will increase at the summit of mount Premiership.

Was our prediction correct?
No!! We said 3-0. MUFC INFO 3 v 23 Wrong Predictions.

Milestones
Wayne Rooney's 46th Premiership goal of his United career & 67th goal overall.
Louis Saha's 27th & 28th Premiership goals of his United career & 40th & 41st goals overall.
Cristiano Ronaldo's 47th & Premiership goal of his United career & 67th goal overall.

SAF's 1,176th Premiership goal.

Wes Brown's 180th competitive league appearance of his United career.

Ryan Giggs Countdown
Sir Bobby Charlton =753 appearances
Ryan Giggs             =724 appearances

29 competitive Games left to eclipse the All Time Record Set by Sir Bobby Charlton

United's Next Match
Saturday 29th December 2007 against West Ham United in the Premiership @ the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park with a 15.00pm K.O.

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