Manchester United celebrated the 25th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson’s appointment with a 1-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday as Manchester City maintained their five-point lead with a 3-2 win over QPR. Sunderland’s United old boy Wes Brown gifted victory to his former manager, heading in an own goal on 45 minutes to settle a lacklustre Premier League encounter at a packed Old Trafford.
Ferguson had earlier been given a guard of honour by both teams as he walked out onto the pitch before club officials revealed the north stand had been renamed in his honour. But the celebratory mood fell flat after kick-off as United struggled to break down Sunderland, managed by former United captain Steve Bruce. Ferguson later said he believed his players had been affected by the emotion of the occasion. “It was an anxious day for the players and I think they showed that today. They improved in the second-half, but the last 15 minutes was torture,” he said.
“Possibly the occasion got to the players. The players wanted to do well for me, I think that was obvious, but these occasions can be a bit like that.” Ferguson said United — who have now registered four consecutive clean sheets since their 6-1 derby thrashing by City last month — were now preparing for a decisive part of the season after next week’s international break.
“This is a pivotal moment for us because we now have three and a half months with no interruptions — we can really kick on and have a go now,” he said. City later took the gloss of the celebrations at Old Trafford with a battling victory over newly-promoted QPR at Loftus Road.
Goals from Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Yaya Toure secured all three points for Roberto Mancini’s men, who remain unbeaten in the league and have now reeled off eight straight wins in all competitions. QPR had given City a scare after taking a first-half lead through Jay Bothroyd before Dzeko equalised. A clever Silva goal gave City a 2-1 lead but Rangers battled back to level their Heidar Helguson before a towering Toure header settled it for City.
Elsewhere Saturday, Newcastle maintained their superb unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 victory over Everton at St James Park. The Magpies — who remain unbeaten after 11 games — sealed their third consecutive league victory courtesy of a John Heitinga own goal and a spectacular Ryan Taylor volley.
Everton pulled one back through Jack Rodwell on the stroke of half-time but the Toffees were unable to salvage a positive result after the break. Chelsea ended their mini-slump with a first victory in three league games against Blackburn, Frank Lampard scoring the game’s only goal to relieve the pressure on manager Andre Villas Boas as the Blues won 1-0.
