On This Day (5th October 2013): Januzaj's double ensures Man Utd crush Sunderland

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David Moyes and Adnan Januzaj — two names from Sunderland's future — gave Kevin Ball nightmares as his side lost their lead and all the points at the Stadium of Light.

It was another turbulent beginning to a season for Sunderland. Roberto De Fanti's shopping spree had left the club heavy on personnel but light on actual talent and ability within the squad.

De Fanti left his manager, Paolo Di Canio, hamstrung with players who had very little Premier League experience, and more damaging still, very little ability.

There were some bright sparks, however, in the likes of Emanuele Giaccherini, who arrived in the Premier League with international experience with Italy, but these were few and far between.

After another chaotic start to the season — something which was becoming all too common under Ellis Short's stewardship — Paolo Di Canio was dismissed as manager following a horrendous 3-0 defeat away to fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion.

Di Canio's departure left a vacancy, with many candidates expressing interest in taking the job full-time.

Sunderland legend Kevin Ball oversaw things on a short-term basis, including matches against Peterborough in the cup, along with difficult home games against Liverpool and Manchester United — the latter of which the team played on this day in 2013.

Without a win in the season yet, there wasn't much hope that one would come against David Moyes' Manchester United, who, despite some early struggles, were still a formidable opponent given they were the league champions.

Given our early season struggles, it was somewhat of a shock that we took the lead only minutes into the encounter through Craig Gardner.

United's makeshift defence looked all at sea from the very beginning, and they were in trouble inside five minutes when Phil Jones and Nemanja Vidic failed miserably to deal with Giaccherini's cross. The loose ball was drilled low past De Gea by Gardner.

This emboldened the home side, who really put it up to United from this point. Jozy Altidore — who had yet to score a goal for us — was a real handful for Vidic, who was struggling to cope with the physicality of the American.

Additionally, the energy of the Sunderland team was breaking through United's high press, which led to further chances for us, with the aforementioned Giaccherini guilty of a couple of misses.

It took a world-class save from De Gea to stop Sunderland extending their lead when Adam Johnson crossed for Giaccherini. The diminutive forward was alone and was turning away to celebrate a headed goal when De Gea produced a quite magnificent flying save, one-handed and away to his right.

Giaccherini could blame no one but himself when he wasted another opportunity as half-time approached, scooping over from eight yards after Johnson weaved through more shambolic work from United's defenders.

These first-half chances would end up being costly given what was to come in the second half. If the first half belonged to Sunderland, the second half certainly was owned by young starlet Adnan Januzaj.

Ten minutes into the second half, the winger got United back on level terms with a lovely finish after a cross from Patrice Evra.

He timed his arrival perfectly to meet Evra's cross with a calm side-footed finish, but it was the second goal he scored that had the Black Cats hissing and United purring.

After only a half-clearance from John O'Shea, Januzaj showed wonderful technique to score with a left-foot volley to put United in the ascendancy six minutes later.

This left the home team deflated, and after putting so much into the first half, Kevin Ball's side struggled to come back with much more.

Truthfully, United were not spectacular either, and it is likely that a team with more confidence and stability could have caused further damage to David Moyes after a bruising defeat to Manchester City previously.

For Kevin Ball, there was a sense of pride in seeing the team he was temporarily managing put in such an energetic performance, but also a hint of regret that they didn't kill the game off when United were evidently struggling.

I thought the first half we worked ever so well. I thought we deserved the goal and we had a couple more chances.

Half time comes and we have the lead, but you are aware that the opposition will come out firing in the second half, and that is what they did. In the Premier League, you need to take your chances.

Ball wouldn't become the new manager on a full-time basis, with Gus Poyet coming in soon after this game, but if anything, the southerner, adored by so many on Wearside, brought some much-needed respect and decency to the jersey at a time of great disappointment, where the major concern was still that the team were languishing in last place in the table.