#2 Blind’s opener a reward for United’s patience
Though David Moyes’ men provided some spark whenever they had the ball, the game largely followed an expected pattern, with Manchester United patiently probing at the Sunderland defence and constantly searching for the final pass to open them up. Sunderland’s back-four and Jason Denayer in defensive midfield were doing a good job of staying compact and preventing United from garnering that clear goal-scoring chance.
United were forced to initiate their attacks from the wings, with full-backs Antonio Valencia and Daley Blind given the license to surge forward and provide crosses for Ibrahimovic and Pogba to attack. The inevitable breakthrough finally arrived in the 39th minute, when a cross from the right was knocked down by Ibrahimovic for Blind, who struck the ball sweetly with his left foot across a diving Jordan Pickford and into the bottom corner. The deadlock was broken and relief reverberated across Old Trafford.
