Manchester United stretched their Premiership lead to a staggering 15 points after an X-rated showdown with Sunderland.

Andy Cole won it with the only goal of the game just seconds after the restart, but he was one of three players sent off in a bewildering 11 minute second-half spell.

Sunderland defender Michael Gray received his marching orders for protesting too strongly after United's goal, and referee Graham Poll dished out a further two red cards to Cole and Alex Rae after they got involved in an ugly spat.

The dismissals in part spoiled a game which was hard-fought throughout, and although United took control after a patchy opening, they never found life easy and were hanging on by the end as Sunderland battled all the way to preserve an unbeaten home record stretching back 17 games to April 24 last year.

On an eventful evening, the game was even interrupted late on by a female streaker, who braved the cold to the delight of the fans, but was not too well received by the respective managers.

Sir Alex Ferguson made just one change to the side beaten 1-0 at home by West Ham on Sunday in the shock of the FA Cup fourth round.

Wes Brown returned to the defence in place of Denis Irwin, and that meant that, unlike in the Worthington Cup clash between the two sides in November, all United's big guns were on show.

Sunderland boss Peter Reid also altered his side as little as possible, replacing the suspended Danny Dichio with first-choice striker Niall Quinn and leaving fit-again defenders Emerson Thome and Chris Makin on the bench.

It was inevitable that the home side would come flying out of the blocks just as they did in the corresponding fixture last season, and they did just that to the delight of a packed house at the Stadium of Light.

Indeed, they could have been ahead as early as the fourth minute when Jaap Stam and Quinn both missed Jody Craddock's deep free-kick and the ball fell to Kevin Phillips at the far post.

However, the England hopeful skied his shot high over the bar, and the further implications of the build-up only became clear 24 minutes later when Quinn left the pitch holding his neck.

The home side enjoyed much of the early possession as Gavin McCann and Don Hutchison really got at their markers and put United on the back foot, but it was full-back Gray who just failed to find Quinn in the middle with a driven 11th-minute cross.

French keeper Fabien Barthez suffered a couple of uncomfortable moments in quick succession, first seeing Rae volley his poor clearance just wide and then getting the benefit of a generous decision by Poll after dropping a cross under pressure from Quinn.

But as the big Irishman walked off the pitch to be replaced by Kevin Kilbane, United seemed to get an extra spring in their step and it was they who started to conduct affairs.

Teddy Sheringham sent an audacious back-heeled flick wide 12 minutes before the break and Beckham whistled in a free-kick which Thomas Sorensen needed two attempts to save, suggesting that there was much, much more to come after the break.

However, few within the stadium record crowd of 48,260 could have predicted just how explosive the second-half would be.

The half was just 23 seconds old when Craddock missed his kick on the edge of the penalty area to allow Cole to race past him and lift a shot over the helpless Sorensen to open the scoring.

The home side were furious that the official had not blown for handball earlier in the move, but Gray took his protest too far and received a red card for his pains.

Hutchison went within inches of an equaliser through Hutchison's 53rd-minute free-kick, but their plans were dealt another significant blow three minutes later as all hell broke loose.

Rae was incensed by Cole's challenge on Sorensen and made a beeline for the striker, who reacted in kind, and Poll had little option to send both off.

To their credit, Sunderland continued to push for a goal, and Kilbane had a great chance on 64 minutes, but lost his shoot-out with Barthez.

With their numerical advantage, United were understandably the more comfortable, but although they created a series of half-chances, they rarely put Sorensen under any real pressure.

Sheringham shot wide from a narrow angle and Keane sent a chip a yard over the bar, but they were happy to hang on to what they had.

Keane had a good chance to seal the victory three minutes from time when the increasingly influential Giggs picked out his run into the box, but the ever vigilant McCann got back to deny him a shooting chance.

However, there was almost a twist in the tale as first Phillips volleyed wide from Hutchison's flick-on and then Hutchison went down under Brown's challenge to spark unrewarded appeals for a penalty.

But it was Varga who came closest to snatching a point in injury time when Barthez just managed to keep out his free-kick with Keane picking up the pieces.

Teams:

Sunderland: Sorensen, Williams, Gray, Varga, Craddock, Rae, Hutchison, McCann, Phillips, Quinn (Kilbane 28), Schwarz (Thome 52), Thome (Makin 58).

Subs Not Used: Ingham, Oster.

Sent Off: Gray (47), Rae (57).

Booked: Hutchison.

Man Utd: Barthez, Gary Neville, Stam, Brown, Silvestre (Phil Neville 86), Beckham, Keane, Scholes (Butt 77), Cole, Sheringham (Solskjaer 67), Giggs.

Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Yorke.

Sent Off: Cole (57).

Goals: Cole 46.

Att: 48,260

Ref: G Poll (Tring).