Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal revealed his delight at seeing his side move to the top of the Premier League table with a 3-0 win over Sunderland this afternoon.
Goals from Memphis Depay, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata saw the Red Devils stroll to victory against Dick Advocaat's troubled side.
"It's a nice feeling to be top of the table, it's the first time in my period so I'm happy. It's always difficult when you play against a team who is only defending and counting on the counter-attack," van Gaal told BBC Sport.
"I was very happy with the goal in extra time because they punished themselves. They were always wasting time and the referee was not reacting to that.
"A goal is the biggest influence in a game and I changed my approach at half time because of that. It became another game but they didn't come at us very much."
Manchester United, who face Wolfsburg at Old Trafford in the Champions League on Wednesday night, now lead local rivals Manchester City by one point.
Joe Sharratt
