LVG: A man under pressure

LOUIS van Gaal admitted that his side could not cope with Sunderland’s aggression as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the Stadium of Light last week end. Lamine Kone’s header helped Sunderland to the win as he powered Wahbi Khazri’s 82nd-minute corner towards David de Gea. The ball then ricocheted between the goalkeeper and Anthony Martial on the line before ending up in the back of the net. It was officially credited as a De Gea own goal. Earlier Martial had cancelled out Khazri’s third-minute opener.

After the defeat to Sunderland an angry fan said, “This was a typical Manchester United performance under Louis van Gaal, which is the reason why there is so much momentum behind the movement to replace him. He is either too stubborn to change or incapable of doing so with the players at his disposal.”

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Man United in their last game enjoyed lots of possession, but only a few bright moments in attack. They were far from dominate, even when they were dominating possession. Van Gaal’s side always looked vulnerable at the back and needed a couple of excellent saves from David De Gea to keep Sunderland out before Kone eventually scored the winner from a corner. Whatever United work on in the week, it does not seem to change much at the weekend maybe it never will unless there is a change in the dugout.

It was the Black Cats’ first league victory over United on Wearside since March 1997 and left a crowd of 41,687 with fresh belief that Sam Allardyce can lead the club to safety, while the visitors’ hopes of a top-four finish suffered a major blow.

“You have to win this kind of game,” Van Gaal said. “We can only blame ourselves. We could not cope with Sunderland’s aggression.

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“Top four will be very difficult now. We have given five points away. I have told the players the top four will be very difficult. You cannot close your eyes to that.”