Burnley manager Scott Parker criticised his ‘childish’ team after a 3-0 loss to Sunderland left them 11 points from Premier League safety.
Burnley manager Scott Parker blasted his “childish” players after a dismal 3-0 defeat at Sunderland pushed the Premier League strugglers closer to relegation.
Regis Le Bris’s side took the lead through an own goal from Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe early in the first half at the Stadium of Light.
Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra increased Sunderland’s stranglehold before the break with his first league goal since arriving from Strasbourg last year.
Chemsdine Talbi’s second-half rocket ensured Sunderland climbed to eighth place to maintain their impressive return to the top flight.
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The Black Cats are unbeaten at home in the Premier League since winning promotion from the Championship last season.
Second-bottom Burnley are 11 points from safety and winless in 15 games as they slump towards an immediate return to the second tier.
A defeat against third-bottom West Ham on Saturday would be another huge blow to Burnley’s faint survival hopes.
“We were just nowhere near it really,” Parker said. “We were never in this game in any aspect. We looked like a childish team that had no intent about us.”
Burnley defender Kyle Walker echoed Parker’s damning assessment of the performance.
“Terrible. We’ve come here to get something from the game and got nothing, so as a club that’s fighting for survival it’s not acceptable,” he said.
Sunderland made the perfect start in the ninth minute when Diarra’s low drive took a hefty deflection off Tuanzebe on its way past wrong-footed Burnley keeper Martin Dubravka.
Sunderland’s relentless pressure paid off in the 32nd minute as Diarra struck again at the climax of a flowing move.
Parker’s team, beaten 15 times in 24 league games this term, were unable to muster a single shot on target.
Talbi rubbed salt into Burnley’s wounds in the 72nd minute, cutting in from the left wing to curl an unstoppable strike into the top corner.
Asked if Sunderland could push for a place in Europe, Le Bris said the first target remains reaching around 40 points. – AFP
