Manchester United 3 Sunderland 1: match report The tone for United's day of near misses was set in the sixth minute, when Ashley Young saw a powerful effort tipped over by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. Patrice Evra then missed from 12 yards five minutes later. Van Persie opened the scoring on 16 minutes, however, following good work by Young inside the penalty area. England winger Young made easy work of beating Carlos Cuellar and Sebastian Larsson before crossing into the six yard box. Former United defender John O'Shea mis-kicked his clearance and the ball dropped to Van Persie, who struck from close range. Van Persie then saw a header saved from Phil Jones's cross before Cleverley doubled United's lead with a first-time strike from fifteen yards after a one-two with Michael Carrick. Sunderland struggled to escape their own half, with James McClean the only visiting player to test David de Gea in the first-half when he shot straight at the United keeper after dispossessing Rio Ferdinand. United's dominance continued. Rooney volleyed wide after being teed up by Van Persie and the England striker teed up Young to shoot over the bar with the first clear effort of the second-half. Rooney scored the goal his performance deserved on 59 minutes, though, when he tapped in from two yards after Van Persie had beaten Cuellar and Titus Bramble on the touchline before crossing to the far post. Rather than extend their lead, however, United eased off following the third goal and Ferguson introduced Vidic and Ryan Giggs from the bench. Sunderland, who had seen top scorer Steven Fletcher limp out of the game at half-time, built a head of steam and Campbell scored with a header from Stephane Sessegnon's cross four minutes after replacing winger Adam Johnson. The visitors threw balls into the United penalty area in an effort to score another, but the home side weathered the late storm to secure the points.