Pride and joy as United hit summit

LOUIS van Gaal was spreading a message of pride and joy at Old Trafford after Manchester United climbed to the top of the Premier league on Saturday.

Manchester City’s 4–1 defeat by Tottenham left the door open for United, who lost no time leapfrogging their rivals. United beat Sunderland 3-0 with goals from Memphis Depay, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata.

It was the first time United had topped the table under Van Gaal.

Once Depay had broken Sunderland’s admirable resistance in the fourth minute of first–half injury time, United looked certain to grab all three points.

Just 38 seconds after the restart, Rooney bundled in his first premier eague goal in 999 minutes. Mata converted Ashley Young’s cross in the dying stages to round off the win.

United travel to Arsenal on Sunday and after the international break they face tough fixtures against Everton and City. But Van Gaal does not think October will define whether his team are genuine title challengers.

“I know exactly where I stand,” the United manager said. “We have a good team but we can win and lose. You need luck but the balance of the team is better than last season.”

Van Gaal believes the addition of six new faces is key to United’s excellent start: “he manager has influence, but the players much more,” Van Gaal said.

For the first time since he moved to United, Anthony Martial failed to score in a Premier League game, but he did set up Rooney.

The United captain had some strong words of praise for the £36m Frenchman: “He’s been incredible,” Rooney told MUTV.