Sunderland ease past helpless Burnley to maintain unbeaten home record
The Black Cats ran out 3-0 victors against a Burnley side who were devoid of energy, effort and any quality whatsoever.
Sunderland and Burnley were both promoted from the Championship last season. The Black Cats went up via the play-offs, and finished 24 points behind Burnley who went up automatically, level on points with Leeds United.
That was in May. Nine months on, the two sides could not be more different. Sunderland are flying high after what has been a season of positivity and a wave of optimism, whereas Burnley are struggling towards the bottom of the table, looking likely to make an immediate return to the second tier.
On the pitch at the Stadium of Light, the meeting between the two clubs massively reflected their contrasting campaigns. It could not have been a more comfortable evening for Régis Le Bris’ side.
Sunderland were very effective in the match, but they were given so much space to operate in, and passed the ball around with such ease and confidence. Burnley, on the other hand, offered absolutely nothing. They did not press, did not create, and did not look like a Premier League outfit in any way, shape or form.
Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for Sunderland to open the scoring, albeit from an own goal. An effort inside the box from Africa Cup of Nations winner Habib Diarra took a heavy deflection off Axel Tuanzebe, which flummoxed Martin Dúbravka between the posts, and the ball found its way into the net.
Dismayed by having that goal taken off him, Diarra soon put things right, latching onto a ball delivered in from the right by Nordi Mukiele that Burnley failed to clear. His shot simply had too much power for Dúbravka, who was only able to palm the ball into the side netting.
It was shaping up to be a poor night for the ex-Newcastle United goalkeeper Dúbravka. The Slovakian was involved in a tussle with Sunderland’s stand-in captain Trai Hume in the second half, which riled up the home supporters to jeer and boo his every touch even more. His misery was compounded when Chemsdine Talbi launched a rocket past him towards the end of proceedings to make it three.
It certainly would have been easy for Sunderland to become complacent in a game where they were evidently the better side, but they saw out the win professionally, something which will no doubt please Le Bris. His team have never lacked character at any point during the campaign, even when they have suffered rare defeats - always showing the ability to bounce back.
Burnley meanwhile, showed on this evening that they are the exact opposite. They have had some good performances this season, but ultimately not enough of them, and this match suggested that their fight and determination is fading away. They looked like a team beaten at kick off, and Sunderland simply took full advantage.
Sunderland taking advantage is something they have done on many occasions now. They were poor against West Ham, and there were worries that their season may fizzle out, but this performance reignited the hopes and dreams across Wearside, of a very positive end to the season.