A brace of goals from Wayne Rooney secured Manchester United a 2-0 victory over Sunderland at Old Trafford this afternoon.

The two goals arrived after the restart - one from the penalty spot, while the other was a close-range header.

The Black Cats also finished the encounter with 10 men following the wrongful sending off of former United centre-back Wes Brown.

Here, Sports Mole looks back over the contest to determine if the home side were worthy winners, or whether the scoreline was harsh on the visitors.

Match statistics

MAN UNITED
Shots: 30
On target: 10
Possession: 74%
Corners: 13
Fouls: 6

SUNDERLAND
Shots: 5
On target: 3
Possession: 26%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 11

Was the result fair?

While statistics can sometimes be misleading, they do provide a fair reflection of the match on this occasion. Sunderland did have a couple of positive ventures forward into United territory early on when they worked David de Gea in the home goal, but after that they were mainly camped inside their own half. After the restart, United's Spanish goalkeeper was largely a spectator.

Man United's performance

Some United fans were certainly not shy in voicing their opinion on their side's display during the first half. Passes back to De Gea were met with jeers, while chants of "attack, attack, attack" were heard on more than one occasion. They were reacting to what they perceived to be too much sideways and backwards passing. Then, on the occasions that space was created in the final third, too often the last pass was poor.

It was a similar story at the start of the second half, but the penalty and red card changed everything. After that, United played with much more confidence as they looked to get the ball out wide to Ashley Young and substitute Adnan Januzaj whenever possible. Those two had the beating of their respective markers and consequently goalscoring chances were much easier to come by.

Once again, it was by no means a vintage United showing, but they won. It is now just two defeats in their last 17 Premier League outings, so they carry some good form into those games, although the free-flowing football may be lacking,

Sunderland's performance

For the first five or 10 minutes, Gus Poyet's men were in fact the better side. They forced errors from the United midfield inside their own half and then sprung forward. Connor Wickham and Jermain Defoe both had chances from the edge of the box, but neither were able to get the better of De Gea.

After that, though, Sunderland seemed to revert back into their shell somewhat. Of course, that was partly down to improvements made by United, but it was also clear that the Black Cats had retreated and they ended up posing very little threat in an attacking sense. With United vulnerable at the back, the visiting supporters can be forgiven for feeling disappointed at the lack of adventure from their side.

While they defended well for large parts, the danger of sitting back and soaking up pressure is that if your resistance is broken, it is a long way back from there, with a change in mentality almost impossible.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Ashley Young: Rooney may have been the match-winner, but it was Young who stood out. Seemingly given a new lease of life under Louis van Gaal, the winger caused plenty of problems. His crossing was good and he twice went close to breaking the deadlock during the first half. All of a sudden, the 29-year-old has made himself a key United player.

Biggest gaffe

Surely Roger East is not the only man to have confused Brown and O'Shea, is he? Come on, they look like twins! In all seriousness, it is a glaring error from East and his team of officials. O'Shea clearly brought down Radamel Falcao inside the area but, while East correctly awarded a penalty, he bizarrely dismissed Brown! A number of Sunderland players, including O'Shea and Brown, were quick to point out his mistake, but East was having none of it. It is going to be yet another weekend when a referee error is going to be heavily discussed.

Referee performance

As mentioned above, East's performance is going to be dominated by that case of mistaken identity. It ruined what was a solid outing until then, with bookings only dished out when completely necessary.

What next?

Man United: The Red Devils take on another side from the North East on Wednesday evening in the form of Newcastle, who will host Van Gaal's men at St James' Park.

Sunderland: A day earlier, Sunderland are on the road again, this time away at old manager Steve Bruce's Hull City.