When it was all over, Gus Poyet’s players were in a victory scrum in the goalmouth and Manchester United had to reflect that, realistically, their chances of silverware might be over. It has been a difficult, often harrowing first season for David Moyes and the drama of this penalty shoot-out was no way to mark the news that this club are on the cusp of prizing Juan Mata away from Chelsea.
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Moyes’s men eventually lost in a battle of endurance and some penalty-taking that made England teams of various international tournaments look deadly from 12 yards. United had taken the match into extra-time courtesy of a first-half goal from Jonny Evans and then survived a remarkable finale that saw both teams score in the final exchanges of extra time. Phil Bardsley, facing his former club, must have thought he had won it for Sunderland with a 20-yard shot that David de Gea inexplicably allowed through his grasp. Yet United, summoning all their old spirit, responded immediately through Javier Hernández in the first minute of stoppage time.
That took the match to a penalty shoot-out and there was a remarkable sense of drama attached to what happened next. Craig Gardner and Steven Fletcher missed the first two for Sunderland and De Gea kept out Adam Johnson’s effort when the winger could have settled it. The problem for United was that Darren Fletcher was their only player to score. Danny Welbeck blazed over the crossbar. Adnan Januzaj could not beat Vito Mannone. Jones did the same as Welbeck and, finally, Mannone saved from Rafael da Silva. Marcos Alonso and Ki Sung-Yueng had beaten De Gea and United’s season had hit a new low.
Juan Mata’s impending arrival will help on that count and there certainly times when United looked short of ideas in their front line.
They started the game brightly but Sunderland played with great togetherness in the opening stages and it quickly became apparent that Gus Poyet’s team were going to give everything in front of a boisterous 9,000-strong following. Lee Cattermole was operating as a shield in front of the Sunderland defence. Fabio Borini could be seen haring back from his position on the left side of attack to help out in defence and that attitude ran through the entire team. Poyet may not have the most refined side but they were determined to compensate with other qualities.
United threatened only sporadically before the stooping header from Evans to make it 1-0 but they had been the more dangerous side and, once again, there was more evidence of Januzaj’s gifts. At one stage the teenager jinked his way past three different Sunderland challenges, showing equal measures of courage and skill. On another occasion, he impudently put the ball between the legs of Sunderland’s left-back . Mata is going to have to excel if it means keeping a player with this ability out of the team.
Vito Mannone, Sunderland’s goalkeeper, had to block Hernández’s header from an early Januzaj free-kick but Sunderland were relatively comfortable until the brief flurry that brought the goal. They had a defence containing three former United players in Wes Brown, John O’ Shea and Phil Bardsley and there was little to trouble them until Darren Fletcher turned Shinji Kagawa’s cross against the post and Danny Welbeck’s follow-up effort was saved. United won a corner and when Januzaj delivered the ball into the penalty area Welbeck was the first to react. His right-foot effort was miscued but the ball bounced conveniently for Evans, running in at the far post, to beat Mannone from close range.
Sunderland could reflect on only a couple of half-chances in the first half. Borini flashed a 25-yard effort just over the crossbar and it needed Alexander Büttner to clear Brown’s header from a corner just before the interval. Sunderland, however, mostly played with conservatism. A better team might have shown greater willing to examine whether United would be vulnerable at the back, especially with Nemanja Vidic missing because of his red card at Chelsea. But there were not too many occasions when Poyet’s men exerted prolonged pressure on their opponents or set about trying to find out why United had lost four of their five games this year.
At the other end, Rafael da Silva put a left-foot shot not too far wide early in the second half. Januzaj, always wanting the ball, did likewise soon afterwards. Yet United were also struggling for real fluency. Kagawa showed some nice touches but still struggles to exert real influence on matches and there was no shock that he was replaced just after the hour. Welbeck is a good level or two down from Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, both missing again, and Hernández was often on the edges.
Sunderland’s problem was one of creativity and whether they could find the cutting edge to restore the aggregate lead; if they could not score then away goals would kick in, favouring United, at the end of extra time. Adam Johnson started to have more of the ball in the second half. Yet Steven Fletcher was isolated at times in attack.
Antonio Valencia replaced Kagawa and immediately went to the right wing, with Januzaj switching to the opposite side. The 18-year-old had a licence to roam and continued to be prominently involved. His shooting, however, was mostly off range and, at 1-0, there was still that danger of Sunderland snatching a breakaway goal.
Moyes was incensed at one point by Büttner giving away a needless free-kick and then not tracking back to cover his position. The attack came to nothing but it was a little warning from Sunderland and there was another shortly afterwards when Johnson chested down a left-wing cross and let fly with a volley that was deflected wide.
Alonso lashed another left-foot shot just past the post and still there was the sense that if Sunderland just showed a touch more ambition they had the opportunity to make it a nervous finale for the home crowd. The visiting supporters had made an almighty racket but Poyet’s men were always reluctant to push too many players forward and, as a result, David de Gea was seldom troubled.
- Capital One Cup
- Manchester United
- Sunderland
Daniel Taylor
theguardian.com