Barclays Premier League Update : Manchester United's fourth consecutive away match in the Barclays Premier League again saw the Red Devils being held by their hosts on the day. However, this was the first of those matches in which United would have been delighted to come away with a point. iSporter Akshay Iyer reports on the action.
After their mid-week win against Valencia in an away in the Champions League group matches, the Red Devils' followers would have been hoping for all three points against Sunderland in the BPL. Sir Alex Ferguson had an interesting starting line-up which had Federico Macheda and Michael Owen as forwards with in-form striker Dimitar Berbatov on the bench. It was also a bit of a surprise to see Anderson getting a start in the Stadium of Light. One would have thought Javier Hernandez would have been a better starting option than Owen. Another interesting decision of Sir Alex's was to leave Patrice Evra on the bench.
The kick-off was delayed by 20 minutes thanks to a burst water pipe which brought down the ceiling in the United dressing room. But, once the match started, it was Sunderland on the attack with the back-line of Man United being pressed in to service almost from the outset. It is rare that United is so much on the defensive and all credit to Steve Bruce's Sunderland who looked to be a team on mission. Most of the credit for dispelling Sunderland's rampaging runs should go to Man United captain Nemanja Vidic who was a pillar at the back. United goalie Edwin van der Sar and the goal post also ensured that all of Sunderland's attacking runs would come to nought.
Van der Sar, in fact, ensured that Sunderland wouldn't take an early lead when he got the better of a one-on-one against Steed Malbranque. United had luck going their way going again in the 37th minute when Bolo Zenden's shot from 20 yards out crashed against the goal post and denied Sunderland a well-deserved lead.
While Sunderland's midfielders and forwards had got their act together right from the outset, Man United's mid-field of Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher and Anderson were hardly communicating with each other and feeding the ball to their forward line of Owen and Macheda. At the back, John O' Shea was being run ragged by Elmohamady. In fact, the only attack that Man United mounted in the first half was a Nani free kick that failed to trouble Sunderland' keeper Simon Mignolet.
The introduction of Berbatov at the ineffective Owen's expense at the start of the second-half infused the much-needed spark in United's attacking runs. Berbatov did manage to score a couple of minutes after coming on, but the goal was correctly ruled to be off-side. Sir Alex finally brought on Hernandez in the 65th minute with Macheda the player being substituted. The combination of Berbatov and Hernandez certainly made Sunderland's defenders think and work a lot harder than they had to in the first half but the magic moment still eluded Manchester United.
To Sunderland's credit though they regained the initiative and almost got the lead when Malbranque's shot deflected off Ferdinand to rest on top of the goal. Darren Bent, who had an outstanding game as Sunderland's lone forward for most of the match, wasn't able to get across to Phil Bardsley's cross at the near post in time, much to the delight of United's supporters.
In the 80th minute, Sir Alex brought on Bebe; which forced his Sunderland counterpart to make a double substitution of his own, one of which was Ghana's World Cup star Asamoah Gyan, who almost scored with an overhead kick a couple of minutes after he was brought on. Meanwhile, United's best chance of scoring came in the 81st minute when a delightful pass from Hernandez found Berbatov in a good shooting position, but the former Bulgarian captain's shot went just wide off the post.
At the end of it all, Manchester United were still left searching for their first away win of the 2010-11 season, but Sir Alex and his players would have been relieved at coming away with a point from Sunderland.
It has been a disappointing start to the season for Man United, with leads being given away at Fulham and Everton resulting in a loss of four points. Though it is still early days in the BPL season, the loss of these points, leaks at the back and injuries to Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney, have already put Man United slightly on the back foot.
Manchester United though would be looking to get their season back on track when they host West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford on October 16.
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