TheCable

Manchester United laboured to a 2-0 win against ten-man Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League (BPL) thanks to Wayne Rooney’s second half brace.

The game was marred by error from referee Roger East as Wes Brown received his marching orders following a case of mistaken identity not seen since Kieran Gibbs was infamously sent off against Chelsea.

The match didn’t come to life until the 64th minute, when Radamel Falcao earned his team a penalty.

The Colombian took a great touch with his back to goal on the spot, turned towards goal and was pulled down by O’Shea.

The referee spotted it, but thought Brown was the culprit and mistakenly showed him a straight red card.

Wayne Rooney stepped up to the spot and converted to give his team the lead.

Rooney sealed the win in the 85th minute, heading in a deflection after Costel Pantilimon made a save on Adnan Januzaj.

Three set pieces proved costly for West Ham as they fell to a home defeat against relegation battlers Crystal Palace.

Glenn Murray scored a brace for the visitors with a goal either side of the break, efforts that came in between Scott Dann’s goal six minutes into the second half.

The Hammers’ consolation came from Enner Valencia 14 minutes from time.

Burnley missed the chance to climb out of the bottom three as an own goal from Kieran Trippier gave Swansea City the points.

Jack Cork’s 64th minute shot struck Trippier and crept over the line before goalkeeper Tom Heaton could scramble it clear.

At St James’ Park, Papiss Cisse’s first-half goal was enough for Newcastle to edge past struggling Aston Villa.

The win was only Newcastle’s second under interim boss John Carver for new Villa manager Tim Sherwood it is a second consecutive league defeat that leaves his side deep in the relegation zone.

Saido Berahino’s second-minute strike gave West Brom a huge victory which saw them to the 30-point mark in their battle for survival.

The striker scored his 17th goal of the season with a stunning half-volley but both he and fellow striker Brown Ideye limped off to give boss Tony Pulis a headache for next week’s two derbies against Villa.

Peter Crouch scored the winner a minute after coming off the bench as Stoke City defeated Hull City 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium.

Crouch made an instant impact after being brought in by Mark Hughes with 20 minutes to go. He rose in the box to meet a fine delivery from fellow substitute Charlie Adam and send a header over Allan McGregor into the net for his ninth goal of the season and fourth in four games in all competitions.

The result is a sixth win in 11 league games for 10th-placed Stoke, while Hull’s recent unbeaten run has been halted at three games.