Manchester United 3-0 Sunderland: Five Talking Points

Manchester United moved to the top of the Premier table thanks to a comfortable home win over bottom-placed Sunderland. The result leaves the visitors without a win from their opening seven games and heaps further pressure on manager Dick Advocaat.Memphis Depay opened the scoring with a tap-in on the stroke of half-time to change the complexion of the team talk at the interval. Things got even worse for the Black Cats as Wayne Rooney doubled the home side’s lead 40 seconds after the break, ending his longest barren spell in the league. Juan Mata then calmly converted Ashley Young’s cross right at the end to ensure the club’ biggest win of the season so far.Here are the major talking points from the game:

#1 Can United stay at the top?

Rooney finally scored a goal after over 1000 minutes without a goal

Manchester City’s collapse at the hands of Tottenham meant that United went into the game knowing that a win will get them to the top of the table. While the football in the first half wasn’t as fluid as it has been at Old Trafford for the past two decades, this is a very different United side. A side whose foundations are solid, especially in central defence and thrives on domination of the ball and being clinical when presented with chances.

The chants of "United, United, top of the league," from the home fans haven’t been heard for a long time at Old Trafford. But if United maintain their solid foundation and can keep their forwards fit, they will have a chance of staying at the top. But that is a very big “if”. For now at least, Van Gaal and his players must merely continue their good form and keep racking up the points, for this is a league that is not easily won.

#2 Martial with a masterclass

Even though Martial did not score a goal he was excellent for the Red Devils

Anthony Martial may not have scored the goal that would have made him the first United player in over four decades to score in his first three league games, but delivered a performance that only enhanced the notion that he might yet prove to be a bargain. While it is true that strikers are measured by the amount of goals they score, Martial gave his finest performance yet, leading the line for the Red Devils.

When you play as the lone frontman, to be successful, you need to be strong to bully defenders off the ball, have the pace to run in behind the defence and above all else, have the composure to hold onto the ball and bring your teammates into the game. The French striker did all that and so much more as he delivered a masterclass in how to lead the line. While he may not have scored the goal that United fans were hoping for, if he continues to perform like this, goals will certainly follow.

#3 Dejavu for Sunderland

Dick Advocaat needs to sort out his team soon

While there is little doubt that games over Manchester United aren’t the defining matches of Sunderland’s season, there is something about their start that gives their fans an eerie sense of déjà vu. This is the third successive season in which they haven’t won a league game in the month of August and September and Advocaat has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors Paolo Di Canio and Gus Poyet, in wasting a terrific end to the previous season by starting poorly.

At Old Trafford, the Black Cats fed off scraps and although they showed plenty of grit and determination, some of their defending was still comically bad. Younes Kaboul, in particular, was the main culprit in that regard and up front Fabio Borini spent most of his afternoon surrounded by Red shirts rather the lime green shirts of his side and seemed more intent on wasting time than contributing to the attack. If the Wearsiders are to have any chance of staying up, they need to improve and improve fast.

#4 Memphis still out of tune

Memphis still struggling to adjust to the Premier League

Manchester United are finally starting to perform the way Louis Van Gaal wants them to. Dominating possession for large chunks of the game and keeping the ball, even if it means going sideways and back, instead of forward. Given how few risks United players seem to take under Van Gaal, it almost seems unfair to criticise a player for taking a chance to take players on and create something out of nothing.

But the problem with Depay isn’t that he is trying to do something on his own or being selfish, it is that he doesn’t always make the right decisions when it matters most. While he has the pace and trickery to beat any full back as he showed against Sunderland, he seems more intent on showing how many people he can beat rather than passing or taking a shot at goal.

While some of that might be down to the fact that he is still a young player who is learning the game, the Dutchman should learn quickly that going down easily or not tracking back might end up costing his side sooner rather than later.

#5 Full backs make all the difference

Both Valencia and Darmian were excellient for the Manchester side

When you are playing against a side that wants to defend deep and cut down any space through the middle, you need to do one of two things. Either play very intricate through balls through a congested middle of the park or attack down the flanks. United chose the latter option, despite playing with two wide players, who wanted to cut inside and shoot or pass, rather than stay out wide.

The injury to Luke Shaw is a blow in more ways than one, but Matteo Darmian showed that he is more than capable of filling in at left back. With Antonio Valencia at right back, United had two full backs, who had the license to go forward at every opportunity. Both Darmian and Valencia took that with both hands as they provided the side with some much-needed width. Their ability to stretch the pitch meant that Sunderland’s defence was dragged wide and in the end, led to them losing their shape and their way.