League Division One · Matchday 15

Sunderland v Manchester United

1–5

Saturday 7th November 1981 · Roker Park · Att: 27,070

Manchester United beat Sunderland 5–1 at Roker Park on Saturday 7th November 1981 in the League Division One. Kevin Moran (20'), Bryan Robson (53'), Frank Stapleton (67', 71') and Garry Birtles (89') scored for United.

Timeline

Running score

Kick Off
7' Mick Duxbury for Gidman
20' Kevin Moran 0–1
38' Stan Cummins 1–1
Half Time
53' Bryan Robson 1–2
67' Frank Stapleton 1–3
71' Frank Stapleton 1–4
89' Garry Birtles 1–5
Full Time 1–5

Match Facts

Starting XI

Player

5 Kevin Moran 20'

7 Bryan Robson 53'

8 Garry Birtles 89'

9 Frank Stapleton 67', 71'

10 Remi Moses

11 Steve Coppell

Substitutes

Mick Duxbury

7' for Gidman

Managers

MUFC

Ron Atkinson

Manchester United

OPP

Alan Durban

Sunderland

United vs Sunderland History

Meeting 97 of 147

147

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

254

Goals For

208

Goals Against

All-time record, from the first meeting on Saturday 4th March 1893. After this match United had played Sunderland 97 times: 37W 25D 35L.

11 Apr 1977 L 1–2 D1 30 Aug 1980 D 1–1 D1 28 Jan 1981 L 0–2 D1

7 Nov 1981 W 5–1 This match

27 Mar 1982 D 0–0 D1 27 Dec 1982 D 0–0 D1 4 Apr 1983 D 0–0 D1

All-time	P	W	D	L	F	A	Win%
Home	73	43	18	12	150	77	58.9
Away	73	23	20	30	99	130	31.5
Neutral	1	1	0	0	5	1	100.0

All 147 meetings with Sunderland →

Match results, lineups and goalscorers compiled from mufcinfo.com; advanced match statistics (xG, shots, possession) via FBref and FotMob where available. Last updated 29 September 2026. How we compile this data →