Manchester United’s dull start to the season continued as they were held by Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.
Gus Poyet’s side nearly opened the scoring with less than four minutes on the clock when Lee Cattermole struck an effort from 25 yards, but his attempt wide narrowly wide.
Sunderland continued to test David De Gea’s goal from that moment on, with visitors Man United struggling to make an impact.
But it was United who took the lead as Juan Mata tapped home from close range after a low cross from Antonio Valencia.
Connor Wickham seemed desperate to get himself on the scoresheet and he came close to getting a quick leveller, only to see his effort go wide of the goal.
Wayne Rooney then came close for United as he tested Vito Mannone but the Italian keeper was on good form.
The game was all-square on the half-hour mark, though, and it was former Manchester City player Rodwell who headed home for the home side.
Seb Larsson came close to scoring a winning goal for Sunderland, whilst Danny Welbeck made some impact late on.
But the game filtered put to a 1-1 draw as both sides failed to create any clear cut chances.