Black Cats Mauled By Red Devils

United barely broke sweat at the Stadium of Light as goals from Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and a Louis Saha brace sealed a fifth away win of the season.

For a Boxing Day encounter, Sunderland showed surprisingly little fight and Roy Keane wouldn't have taken many positives out of such a one-sided affair.

The Reds were 3-0 up by half-time and coasted through the second period, adding a fourth in the closing stages when Louis Saha slotted home from the penalty spot.

Sir Alex made five changes to the side that beat Everton on the weekend, with Darren Fletcher handed his first league start of the season and Louis Saha starting up front alongside Wayne Rooney.

Perhaps the manager's most notable selection was the inclusion of Ji-sung Park on the bench. Park, who came on in the 57th minute, hadn't played for the Reds since injuring his knee against Blackburn Rovers in March.

At the back, Sir Alex recalled Rio Ferdinand to the starting XI but rested Patrice Evra on the left. John O'Shea came in for the Frenchman, with Wes Brown operating on the other side of the defence.

Neither side's back four was troubled in the game's opening stages until Danny Higginbotham caught Cristiano Ronaldo late 25 yards from goal in a central position. The Reds' no.7 lined up the free-kick and stung Craig Gordon's palms with a vicious strike that dipped and swerved in the air. The Scottish goalkeeper was called into action again moments later when Nani's left-foot shot looked to be sneaking inside the near post.

Sunderland then fashioned their own half chances through Kenwyne Jones and Dixon Etuhu before Louis Saha fluffed an opportunity to put United into the lead. The Frenchman did well to peel off his marker but miscued a volley after John O'Shea, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo had linked well on the left flank.

After a frustratingly scrappy opening period, the match had begun to open up and the Reds took the lead on 20 minutes when Rooney exploited some lax Sunderland defending to beat the offside trap and roll the ball past Gordon.

From Wes Brown's pass to Rooney's ice-cool finish, it all looked so simple and would no doubt have frustrated Sunderland boss Roy Keane. Of course, Keane's concerns were the last of Rooney's worries as the United ace banged in his first league goal since October.

The Sunderland boss was made to suffer further on the half-hour when the Reds turned defence into attack in the blink of an eye. Darren Fletcher was booked for hauling down Michael Chopra near the United goal but the home side failed to make the Reds pay with the resulting free-kick.

Moments later, Cristiano Ronaldo fed Wayne Rooney down the inside left channel. The England international outpaced his marker, reached the corner of the 18-yard box and picked out Louis Saha in the middle with a curling cross.

From there, Saha was left with the relatively simple task of side-footing the ball past Gordon to send the Reds 2-0 up and confirm the gulf in class between the two sides.

Sunderland certainly couldn't argue with the scoreline, although Ross Wallace almost pulled a goal back five minutes before the interval when he drew a finger-tip save from Tomasz Kuszczak in the United goal. It was the first significant save the Polish stopper had needed to make and underlined the visitors' dominance.

There was still time before the break for United's third, this time from the boot of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star had already tested Gordon with two long-range free kicks but in injury time at the end of the first half a third free-kick – this one slightly to the left of centre and 25 yards from goal – sailed over the wall and into the top corner.

It was as good a goal as Ronaldo has scored this season, the perfect blend of power and precision, and took his tally to an astonishing 17 from 20 starts.

Roy Keane withdrew Ross Wallace at the break and introduced Danny Leadbitter but the change did little to stem the Red tide. Indeed, the home side were lucky not to concede a penalty in the 48th minute when former United striker Dwight Yorke appeared to handle Ronaldo's cross inside his own penalty area.

Paul McShane then showed tremendous bravery to block a Rooney shot before Sunderland fans were left cursing Kuszczak's reflexes when the Reds goalkeeper saved well from Kenwyne Jones low to his left.

The Black Cats' fans did have something to cheer on 57 minutes when Ronaldo left the pitch, but his replacement, Ji-sung Park, proved just as menacing. Within minutes of stepping onto
the pitch the South Korea international teed up Nani for a shot that fizzed just wide of Gordon's left-hand post. Park continued to chase every ball and showed little sign of his nine-month absence from the game.

With the game won, the Reds took their foot off the pedal somewhat and contented themselves with keeping the ball. That said, Wayne Rooney should have made it 4-0 in the 76th minute when he blazed over from close range.

The Reds did score a fourth in the 87th minute, Louis Saha converting coolly from the spot after Nani had been tugged back inside the area by Danny Collins.

United: Kuszczak; Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic (Pique 74), O'Shea; Ronaldo (Park 57), Fletcher, Carrick, Nani; Rooney, Saha

Subs not used: Heaton, Evra, Tevez

Booked: Fletcher

Sunderland: Gordon; Whitehead, McShane, Higginbotham, Collins; Chopra (O'Donovan 87), Yorke (Richardson 61), Etuhu, Wallace (Leadbitter 46); Jones, Waghorn

Subs not used: Ward, Cole

Booked: Whitehead, McShane

Cristiano Ronaldo fires a beautifully struck 25-yard free-kick on the stroke of half-time for a 2-0 lead

Louis Saha compounds Sunderland's misery when he slots home Manchester United's fourth goal