London: Manchester United claimed a 3-0 away victory against 10-man Sunderland in round 32 of the English Premier League (EPL) on Sunday, to continue competing for a position among the top four.

Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened scoring for the visitors after 30 minutes. Sunderland Swedish midfielder Sebastian Larsson was sent off just 13 minutes later for a challenge against Manchester's Ander Herrera and it gave United a big advantage.

The Red Devils easily dominated the game against the 10-man rival before Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the second goal for Manchester United just 47 seconds after the beginning of the second half.

English forward Marcus Rashford scored the third goal one minute before the final whistle.

"I told them in the second half we had to go to kill the game. It was under control but we needed the second goal to kill mentally the opponent," United chief coach Jose Mourinho told his club's website.

"But I didn't expect that it was after one minute. I was thinking it had to be after a solid period of intensity for our attacking football. But we started the game, scored a goal and killed it."

United currently hold the fifth place in the standings with 57 points, 19 points behind leaders Chelsea.

Sunderland remain at the bottom of the table with only 20 points.