Manchester United and Sunderland mustered up a drab and uninspiring 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

Juan Mata put Louis van Gaal's men 1-0 up against the run of play mid-way through the first half, but former Man City midfielder Jack Rodwell pegged the visitors back with a bullet header 10 minutes later.

And that's pretty much how it stayed for the rest of the game. United were painfully average, while Sunderland's dogged display perhaps deserved all three points in the end.

But here's FIVE talking points from the game...

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Click on Louis Van Gaal to reveal

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Juan Mata's goal against the run of play

It was a goal that was so typically United. They were on the back foot and by far second best against Sunderland up to that point.

So it wasn't surprising to see them take the lead through Juan Mata's tap in from two yards. It was against the run of play and undeserved...

Jack Rodwell's equaliser

Jack Rodwell was bound to score his first goal for 15 months and for Sunderland against Man United.

The former Man City player put his Etihad nightmare behind him by permanently switching to the Black Cats this summer and what better way to reward your new and former employers by scoring against United...

Tyler Blackett's performance for United

The youngster looked well above his years, particularly in the first half, and was one of few impressive performers for United on the day. It's no secret that United are desperate to strengthen at the back before the window shuts in 10 days time, but Blackett will have done his chances of regular football the world of good with his display today.

Ashley Young diving. Again.

Was it a dive? Or was it a penalty? We've seen them given, but Ashley Young's reputation is a diver obviously counted against him when he went down in Sunderland's area in the second half. And, as expected, he was abused for his actions on Twitter...

Sunderland's performance

Man United weren't exactly at their best, but Sunderland's performance was worthy of a positive result. Had they managed to get a winner then United would've deserved to leave the Stadium of Light without a point.

Gus Poyet has got the Black Cats playing nice football and they're clearly a much more organised outfit than they were last season.

If they can keep that level of performances up then they could be looking at a top ten finish this season...