After clinching promotion in May, the prospect of frequenting grounds like Anfield, Old Trafford, and the Emirates again was a part of what made the step-up, after eight long years away, so exciting.
While the “Sunderland-y” trait has been more or less eradicated by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and co., it does still linger from time to time, which is why rather than a ‘glamorous’ away day, we were given a trip to Turf Moor as the lads took to the road for the first time this season.
Following last Saturday’s
emphatic curtain-raiser, where Regis Le Bris’ men romped to a 3-0 battering of West Ham, optimism was high amongst the fanbase heading into our meeting with Burnley.
This week’s official opening of the city’s brand new £31m footbridge as well as the capture of new signing Nordi Mukiele, added further gloss to what has been a largely positive, feel-good summer on Wearside.
Unsurprisingly, Le Bris went with the starting XI that made short work of the Hammers last week, with the exception of Omar Alderete, who came in to replace Jenson Seelt.
From being incredibly clinical last week to infuriatingly profligate this week, we should have been a goal to the good just minutes in after a looping header found Eliezer Mayenda, only for the Spaniard to miraculously miss from point-blank range.
Within just eight minutes, Dan Ballard limped off with what appeared to be a groin injury, leaving us painfully thin on the ground in the central defensive department.
Chemsdine Talbi also came close in the opening exchanges, as a crafty Simon Adingra pass was threaded through to him, but the Moroccan fired just inches wide of Martin Dubravka’s post.
In an entertaining half an hour, where Burnley had a goal ruled out due to a foul on Seelt in the build-up, little could split the two sides.
Following the break, it was Burnley who drew first blood via a curling Josh Cullen effort, which beat a helpless Robin Roefs, bending into the corner.
While we probed and began to commit bodies forward in the name of an equaliser, we left ourselves increasingly vulnerable defensively. As such, it took a simple Cullen ball over the top to find Jaidon Anthony, who rounded Roefs and fired into the roof of the net to put Burnley out of sight.
In what was a frustrating afternoon in Lancashire for us, for large swathes of the match, we looked much the better team, dictating play and keeping the ball well.
Understandably, after their opener, we had the propensity to overcommit and had to deviate from our game plan in order to regain a foothold, a way of playing that just doesn’t lend itself to how we set up. A 2-0 defeat is a harsh indictment of our overall display.
Much was made of this being a “reality check” for Sunderland following the highs of last week. Yet, fans, nor Le Bris were under any illusions going into the season that this was going to be anything but a difficult campaign.
While we have to be earmarking games like Saturday’s as “must not lose” fixtures if we are to establish ourselves and be competitive in the top flight, calm, pragmatism, and composure are needed when things don’t go our way.
