Rooney on target as Man Utd replace Man City at top

The Red Devils leapfrogged rivals Manchester City after the Citizens suffered a heavy defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

Jones returned as a replacement in last Wednesday’s League Cup win over Ipswich and continued his comeback with another appearance off the bench against Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday. That is especially true given that the veteran Dutch coach’s first experience of England’s League Cup ended in an ignominious 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Milton Keynes Dons in last season’s second round.

Schneiderlin moved to Old Trafford this summer after seven years at Southampton, in which time he worked under eight different managers, including Nigel Adkins, Nigel Pearson, Alan Pardew, Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman. “You can start better from the top than the bottom but it shall be very hard”. In May you can ask me the same question. “Hopefully we can continue”.

“He’ll be a big player for us throughout the season and in the future, but we need to let him enjoy his football, and I’m sure he’ll bring plenty of magic moments for us”.

“Mata was instrumental in United’s victory over Sunderland and should they win the title, his departure could prove to be Mourinho’s final embarrassment”. Those absences could mean that Phil Jones will be included in the squad for the first time this season after returning to full training following a diagnosis of mild thrombosis just prior to the start of the Premier League season.

“It doesn’t matter who is scoring goals or making goals”.

However, like Rooney, Van Gaal has only good things to say of Martial. Rooney, meanwhile, who had not scored a league goal in 11 matches stretching back to early April, again looked short of his best.

After Sunderland had seen chances of an unlikely comeback snuffed out as De Gea saved from Ola Toivonen and Patrick van Aanholt, Depay should have made it 3-0 from Martial’s pass, but failed to beat Pantilimon.

“We will wait and see how he settles into a house or an apartment when his wife might be alone with their kid and then he comes back and has to do shopping or something”.

As United top the Premier League for the first time in nearly two years he says English teams are hampered in the Champions League because of the Premier League “rat race”.

While Sunderland’s desperate lack of quality can not be discounted, the sense of this being a United team on the rise is hard to ignore.