Manchester United's unbeaten home run in Premier League 2 came to an end on a stormy Monday night as the young team under Nicky Butt's interim management lost 2-0 to a Sunderland side featuring a few first-team players.
Two of those senior stars, Sebastian Larsson and Jan Kirchhoff, scored a goal in each half for the Black Cats after using all their experience to overcome the difficult conditions and increasingly impose themselves on the game.
With Butt's ex-team-mate Paul Scholes and the former United and current Sunderland manager David Moyes both watching from the relative shelter of the stands, the two sets of players started the contest in swirling winds at Leigh Sports Village.