Manchester United, playing for the first time in front of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, ground out three points thanks to an own-goal from former Red Wes Brown.
Ahead of the game boss Ferguson was honoured for his 25 years in charge with the re-naming of the former North Stand.
A statue of Ferguson by sculptor Philip Jackson has also been commissioned and will be placed near the entrance to the stand when it is completed, which the club hope will be before the start of next season.
The game itself was fairly un-inspiring, and the unfortunate Brown had the decisive say when he headed into his own net after a Nani corner.
The result meant United moved back up to second in the Premier League ahead of Newcastle, who beat Everton in the early kick-off.
Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand started together in the United central defence for the first time since the opening day of the season, with Anders Lindegaard given a chance in goal.
For Sunderland, keeper Keiren Westwood made his first Premier League start in place of the injured Simon Mignolet while John O'Shea was denied a first return to Old Trafford by a hamstring injury.
Black Cats boss Bruce had never got the better of Ferguson in 16 previous meetings with his former manager, and he was dealt a blow in the opening moments when Connor Wickham appeared to roll his ankle and Ji Dong-wan came on in his place.
It was perhaps inevitable the game would fail to live up to the occasion, and so it proved for most of the first half, with United dominating possession but failing to test Westwood, while Sunderland provided some decent flashes going forward.
Sebastian Larsson saw a shot deflected behind by Patrice Evra while Lindegaard pushed away a Nicklas Bendtner effort from the edge of the area.
At the other end, Javier Hernandez looked to have a chance when he was played in by Darren Fletcher but he went down rather too easily under pressure from Larsson and referee Lee Mason waved away the penalty claims.
United were getting closer, though, and Phil Jones fired a volley just over the bar after a Nani corner came to him on the edge of the area in the 43rd minute, while Westwood got down smartly to block a Nani effort from a tight angle.
Pressure
And from the resulting corner the hosts did take the lead. With the clock ticking through four minutes of injury time, Nani sent over a cross that the unfortunate Brown headed into his own net under pressure from Danny Welbeck.
The second half also took a while to get going but it was United doing all the pressing and Nani curled a 25-yard free-kick just wide before Hernandez flashed a shot over the bar.
The hosts came close to a second goal twice in quick succession with 64 minutes gone. First the lively Nani was denied by a last-ditch challenge by former United player Keiran Richardson, then from the resulting corner Hernandez's header was cleared off the line by the same player.
The game then took a controversial turn as Sunderland finally engineered a decent crossing opportunity, delivered by Larsson for Ji, who was challenged by two United defenders.
Initially referee Lee Mason played on but, when he saw his assistant Jake Collin flagging, he appeared to award Sunderland a penalty for a handball by Jones.
Larsson positioned the ball on the spot but, after a lengthy discussion between Mason and Collin, the referee eventually decided it was Ji who had handled and reversed the decision, much to the frustration of Bruce and his players.
Westwood was one of the most highly-regarded keepers outside the Premier League before leaving Coventry for Sunderland in the summer, and he showed why with a stunning double save in the 71st minute.
After parrying Rooney's fizzing 10-yard effort, Westwood then got back up to push Evra's follow-up over the bar when the full-back looked certain to score.
While it remained only 1-0, Sunderland had a chance, and another testing Larsson cross was just too far in front of Bendtner when a touch would surely have resulted in a goal.
But it was not to be for Bruce's men.
What is your verdict on the action? Have your say.
Manchester United 1 Sunderland 0
November 05, 2011
Comments
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we are so bad that we had to rely on a ex player to score for us. after todays performane i'm convinced we wont win any major tropheys this season,and should concentrate on getting that FOURTH place ahead of liverpool.
how silly do those idiots look who said we didnt need any midfield players,or that carrick,fletcher and park are worldclass? there even was a idiot who said xavi&iniesta wasnt good enough for us!.
Don't be blind... This was another poor performance.
First half was rueful.
3 points thanks to... Wes Brown !!!!
Shall we finish top 4 ????
Not so sure...
25 years, yeah... Where have all the good times gone ????
SAF is a Genius, He sold Wes where he can help us whenever we are in need! Once a RED always a RED!
Better in the second half, but my god we were awful in the first half. I know that many will disagree, but we have really missed Michael Carrick of late. Many don't realize how important to the team he is until he's not there. He's cruelly underrated by some of the idiots on here - he was composure personified when he came on. Carrick and Celverley, with Rooney back upfront, and we'll get our mojo back soon enough.
Very happy with the three points - especially THIS weekend. What a magnificent manager and man, Sir Alex is!
bad game. Nani and Roo were our best players. hernandez is totally out of form. should have been replaced. wellbeck was better than him. Rio was horrible on several occasions, lucky Ji chose to shoot instead of feed the ball after going around him.
I really hope we sign two midfielders in the window. there's so many decent players when I watch CL it's not even worth listing.
Well, hardly a classic, but we seem to be set up to get results at the moment, so I'll take it. I was a bit worried before the game, as we have a habit of not doing well on anniversaries, so I'm happy with the three points.
A dull game so not much to say. In a good mood, even the regular band of moaners couldn't put me down.
Great gesture by the club reg the statue and the renaming of the stand.
Again and again AVERAGE performance.... ROONEY wasted in MIDFIELD..
Still waiting for United to come back, how long do i have to wait?
what can you say...thanks Wes...
Thrilling stuff . Then it kicked off .
Awful first half , far too slow . Much better 2nd half and should have put the game to bed which would have saved us the nervy last 10 mins .
Rooney again MOM by a mile in CM but a double edged sword as we badly miss him doing his stuff further up the pitch . Vidic was again commanding when needed .
Other than that already forgotten about the game , 3 points in the bag , thank you very much .
Rilo
Exiled Droylsden Red
those first 45 vminutes were as bad as it gets slightly better in the 2nd half but what a dreadful performance AGAIN.
C....p again.
I think I've solved my problem with how I see Fletcher. He's like a Picasso - in all in how you see it. I see a lot of oddball disjointed facial features splashed on canvas; others see brilliance.
Fletcher can't tackle, can't pass forward, can't head, can barely run, hardly shoots on target. Splash him onto the pitch, glue it all together with those scintillating side passes and some will see, and T & C will affirm, sheer brilliance.
So there it is, Fletcher is the new Picasso.
(for those who don't know Picasso was a painter, not an Italian midfield destroyer LOL)
Just had another thought. If SAF shipped him off to Sotherbeys for auction would they get the 40 - 60 million same as a Picasso. I know you get more for a dead artist but Fletcher is a dead loss, so that should count.
I did see the game today and Fletcher was a long way from being the worst but that just shows how bad this team really is. Defence looked susceptible, midfield poor and attack even poorer.
If these last few performances don't get thro to SAF then there is something wrong nothing will. Although Rooney did OK he's surely missed further up front - United never really looked like scoring. Thank heaven for Wes, saved United again!!
Since the derby defeat ( the EVANS-SAF defeat ) , SAF is trying his best not to concede . He succeeded in doing so , got the 4 wins , but made the fans mad . why do we have to be this conservitive ? the players chosen for this match are mostly attacking which is good but they were arranged into a strange looking formation which made sure no chances in the first half were made . Hernandez , Welbeck and Nani were very very poor . Rooney , Evra and in fact the defence played well . Fletcher did ok as well . Park tried very hard . But all in all it was a very random and less than organized effort from the team . Defenseively it was effective but hardly attractive . May be Valencia could have done something given the chance . Anyway , I hope we can not play worse than this .
this was garbage one paced ordinary football this is now becoming a trend the world and his brother can see park and fletcher for what they are second rate footballers
phelan and rene have to go with there dour one paced football
where is the fast one touch football gone jesus our midfield is an absolute joke
compare our midfield with citys frightening where are our leaders on the pitch no more tinkering this team needs major surgery and if fergie cannot see it then god help us rooney shoots 5.40 5 nov
Not too impressiv. But if we win the games when we are playing like this we will just get better from cristmas and forward.
I really miss Cleverly who has been the most consistent midfielder when he plays. Rooney reminds me of Schoolsie when he plays central midfield.
May be season long to wait..
i think fergie should concentrate on the midfield players they need to buy to bring the club back to top again. i keep hearing arsenal wanting hazard and goetza,shouldnt we be ahead of them trying get these two? they are exactly the type of midfield players we need.
Two fortuitous 1 nil wins in a row.Ferguson's supply of luck seems inexhaustible.
The first 14 comments on here are mostly from whingers. Were you United fans 25 years ago?
It's only gone a few weeks since the 6-1 game. We are slowly getting there. Evra, Vidic, Rooney and Jones all very good today.
With Cleverley back and Anderson recovering the form of August we will once again be the top team.
As I write this, City are 0-1 down to QPR. The PL is not a league you walk. Go support Real or Barca if you want to win 6-0 each week.
1.Lindegaad looks solid. I like the way he always to the ball from crosses but DeGea is a better distributor of the ball,much like VdS. Nice to know we have two good keepers.
2.Another great display from the young man. I would love to see him score.
3. Ferdinand was adequate,Vidic is getting back to the player we all know he is and Pat looked as if a full week without a game did him good. He has been plying too much and the way he gets up and down his wing must be knackering.
4.Fletcher was OK but still doesn't look right,after his illness.
5.Rooney was MOM even out of position. Shows what the team could be if we had a decent central midfielder which would allow Rooney to return to his normal role--he was missed there today.
6.Nani still flatters to deceive but improved a little today.
7.Park-- nusience value I suppose. Hope that when Young returns,he will be back on form.
8.Well taken goal by Welbeck but not much else to shout about whereas Chico is missing Rooney badly. Berba didn't really do him any favours when he came on.
9.A more entertaining game than others of late.A couple of scares in defence mainly due to their customary lack of concentration. At least it was three points,we keep on chiselling out wins and it must be only a matter of time before we are back on blob.Hopefully after the break when several players will be having a rest! In order to achieve this though,we need our wingers back on form. This is our style and without them,we seem to have ho credible plan B.
10. Who handled the ball in United's area? I watched it several times and I think we may have got a bit lucky there.
11. Sunderland are basically a good team and I can't understand why they are so low in the table. Good goalkeeper as well!
If Hernandez is the new Solksjaer he should be substitute far more. It worked for Ole and Chicarito is not nearly good enough at the moment to start as many games as he does.
No midfield, no cohesion, no flow, no pattern of play, no tactics, no flair, no imagination, no vision, no Pogba! Where on earth is this team going? After just a few games Cleverley has become our most important player!!! How much longer are we to put up with this clown from Korea? Hernandez & Welbeck are'nt going to frighten anybody unless they are used correctly. Get a grip Fergie.
UGH! That was very UGLY!!
Poor Poor Poor!!
A colourless display!!
It's as if we weren't too bothered we weren't making an impression!!
Get a midfielder SAF!!!
Podolski (Köln), Goetze (Dortmund),...good young guns also!!
Ok I KNOW 3pt is 3pt!!,...but!!....
Saw the lineup and watched Liverpool and Swansea instead. Great game. From the response on here it was a good decision. Playing like we are is going against what Manchester United has always stood for. Fergie, with his stupidity and arrogance, is putting our reputation into disrepute and eventually we will loose millions of fans World wide and hense, revenue. City have just gone ahead 2-1. Haveing said all that, congratulations SAF on 25 years. Please retire now before you completely wreck this season.