Burnley 2-0 Sunderland: Clarets get off the mark in first home game of the season | OneFootball

Burnley secured their first win of the season against Sunderland, with goals from Josh Cullen and Jaidon Anthony taking the game away from The Black Cats to teach them a harsh lesson about life at the top.

Burnley’s new-look midfield ran the show at a nervous but energetic Turf Moor. Captain Cullen scored early into the second half before beautifully providing an assist for Anthony. Cullen, with shades of last season’s captain and top scorer Josh Brownhill, was instrumental in a victory created through discipline and moments of real quality; factors that helped Burnley achieve 100 points with an incredible 16 goals conceded last season in the Championship.

As it happened

After a tense and evenly matched first-half, which saw Sunderland’s Dan Ballard forced off in the ninth minute through injury, Burnley’s skipper Cullen broke the deadlock in the 47th minute after Sunderland striker Eliezer Mayenda missed a golden opportunity. The next half an hour was a tale of defence versus attack, with Le Bris’ side trying to cut through a famously tight defence to no avail. Kyle walker, entering the twilight of his career, showed his class in spades, adapting his game to move away from blistering pace into a more assured central defensive role with ease, shutting the door in the faces of Sunderland’s wingers all afternoon.

Sunderland, for all their pressure, looked void of ideas. In stark contrast to their performance against West Ham, Mayenda and substitute Wilson Isidor were left frustrated time and time again as every cross, pass or attempt on goal fell easily and calmly into the hands of new signing Martin Dúbravka. The defensive discipline of Burnley paid off in the later stages, as Cullen played a beautiful through ball for Anthony to cruise past keeper Robin Roefs and place the ball into an empty net, killing any idea of a Sunderland come back and providing a vital and well-deserved first victory for Parker’s side.

Burnley’s start to the season doesn’t get easier from here however. They travel to Old Trafford to face a United side desperate for a first win after only picking up one point so far, but the confidence gained from this result could prove invaluable to The Clarets and potentially spur them on in what will prove to be a long, hard season.

Sunderland will look to once again capitalise on the raucous atmosphere as they welcome Brentford, who, on the back of an impressive home win against Aston Villa, will be eager to put to bed any notion that they’re dead set for relegation in place of one of the three new boys. For The Black Cats, it’s a huge game for them to pick themselves up and not slip into the dreaded form of losing that has been the killer for newly promoted teams in recent years.

The lineups

BUR: Dúbravka, Walker, Ekdal, Estève, Hartman, Ugochukwu, Cullen, Bruun Larsen, Mejbri, Anthony, Foster

SUN: Roefs, Hume, Ballard, Alderete, Reinildo, Diarra, Xhaka, Sadiki, Talbi, Mayenda, Adingra