Burnley beat Sunderland to claim first league win

Second-half goals from Josh Cullen and Jaidon Anthony earned Burnley their first win of the 2025/26 season as they overcame Sunderland 2-0.

While Sunderland claimed a 3-0 win over West Ham United in their first Premier League game since 2017 on the opening weekend, Burnley were dispatched by the same scoreline away at Tottenham Hotspur.

Yet Scott Parker’s Clarets, who had a goal disallowed in the first half, showed what they can do at Turf Moor, where they went unbeaten in the Championship last season.

Captain Cullen curled in a 47th-minute opener before supplying a wonderful assist for Anthony to make sure of the points late on, with Burnley catching Sunderland cold as the Black Cats sought an equaliser.

It took until October last season for one of the promoted clubs to win a league game, but with this result, all three new boys have got three points on the board by Matchweek 2 this time around.

How the match unfolded

Sunderland suffered a setback when Dan Ballard was forced off through injury early on, moments after Eliezer Mayenda had squandered a golden opportunity.

The visitors were presented with another chance as Simon Adingra threaded Chemsdine Talbi through, only for the Moroccan to fire wide, and Burnley looked to have punished Sunderland’s profligacy when Lyle Foster lashed in, but the referee’s call of no goal was confirmed by VAR, with Jenson Seelt having been tripped.

Yet there was no denying Cullen when he curled into the bottom-right corner to break the deadlock.

And with Sunderland attempting a rescue mission, Cullen turned provider with a sublime first-time pass through to Anthony in the 88th minute – the forward rounding Robin Roefs and firing home.

An earlier fault with the floodlights resulted in 10 minutes of stoppage time, though Sunderland could not tee up a grandstand finish, with Loum Tchaouna almost adding further gloss for Burnley when he struck a shot against a post.

Floodlights fail but Clarets shine bright

Making their home bow on their return to the big time, Burnley were facing the ideal opponents on paper, with the Clarets unbeaten in their three Premier League home games against Sunderland prior to Saturday’s contest.

In withstanding some early Sunderland pressure, Parker’s team showed the type of grit that saw them concede only 16 league goals in the second tier last season, and it was from those solid foundations on which they grew into this encounter.

Burnley were not discouraged after Foster’s disallowed goal, with Anthony heading a whisker wide of the post just before the interval.

Cullen, who had been pulling the strings in Burnley’s midfield, then led by example when he took the game by the scruff of the neck with a well-taken goal and a brilliant assist, with the midfielder only briefly getting his head up before arching a ball over the top and into Anthony’s path.

Burnley were back to what they do best, as they restricted Sunderland and punished them on the break.

Next up is an EFL Cup tie against Derby County on Tuesday before the Clarets head to Manchester United next Saturday.

Sunderland get a reality check

The Black Cats came into this game on the back of their first Premier League win in the month of August since 2010, but they have swiftly found out that keeping up momentum in this division is never going to be easy.

Heading to Turf Moor, Sunderland were aiming to break further records by winning their opening two games in a Premier League season for the first time.

But the early loss of Ballard was a blow from which Regis Le Bris’ side could ultimately not recover, with his presence in both boxes certainly missed.

Not long after Ballard trudged off clutching his groin, replacement Seelt was outmuscled by Foster, albeit the officials deemed unfairly so.

But following a clinical display last time out, Sunderland were wasteful when they did get their opportunities – Mayenda, Talbi and Granit Xhaka all could have done better when presented with openings.

Sunderland lived to regret their missed chances, and this defeat could prove to be something of an early reality check. They will look to bounce back against Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, before hosting Brentford in their next top-flight outing.

Club reports

Burnley report | Sunderland report

What the managers said

Scott Parker: "This is a massive three points for us.

"We knew the challenge ahead of us today against a good side coming off the back of a very good result. "We were well worthy of the three points, which is pleasing."

Regis Le Bris: “We struggled to find a solution to create rhythm in the final third. “We have a new team, a new squad so it is a long process."

Next fixtures

Key facts

Burnley have won nine of their last 10 home league games (one draw), including their last five in a row. Indeed, they are now unbeaten in their last 24 home league matches (15 wins, nine draws), their longest such run since December 1921 (32).

Burnley kept their first clean sheet in their last 22 Premier League games since a 2-0 win at Everton in December 2023, and first in 12 at Turf Moor in the division since beating Sheffield United 5-0 in December 2023.

Sunderland have now lost 15 of their last 18 away games in the Premier League (three wins), failing to score at all in 12 of those.

Jaidon Anthony assisted Josh Cullen’s opening goal for Burnley while Cullen returned the favour for their second – it was only the fourth time that Burnley saw two players record both a goal and assist in a single Premier League game, and first since April 2019 v Bournemouth (Ashley Westwood and Chris Wood).