As the old footballing cliche goes - when your luck’s out, your luck’s out - and relegation-battling Burnley certainly felt the brunt of that in the opening stages.
Not even 10 minutes were on the clock when a huge stroke of misfortune went against them, as Habib Diarra’s effort deflected off the outstretched leg of Axel Tuanzebe and wrong-footed Martin Dúbravka in the Burnley goal.
The response from Scott Parker’s men was non-existent, and Sunderland continued to come forward, threatening to double their advantage when Chemsdine Talbi saw his volley drift wide of the target when being afforded the freedom of the penalty area by the Clarets defence.
The Black Cats finally pressed home their advantage shortly after the half-hour mark, through a familiar source too, as Diarra grabbed his second of the game, taking one touch to set himself before firing an effort goalwards which was too hot to handle for Dúbravka.
The half-time whistle sounded with Burnley having had two touches in the Sunderland box perfectly encapsulating where they were going wrong, which made Parker’s decision to bring the defensive-minded Josh Laurent on at half time in an attempt to change the game all the more puzzling.
It would be amiss to suggest that change didn’t have a positive effect for Burnley, who started the second half the brighter of the two sides, but their goal threat never particularly improved.
The first big chance of the half went Sunderland’s way when Brian Brobbey worked a yard in the area and forced Dúbravka into a save just moments before Nordi Mukiele blasted the follow-up over the bar.
Any lingering Burnley hopes were diffused a little under 20 minutes from time, Chemsdine Talbi curled home a sumptuous 25-yard strike into the top corner.
The third goal really killed the game off, and things could’ve become a whole lot more humiliating for Burnley, who needed a last-ditch Maxime Estève block to deny Trai Hume what would’ve been a certain fourth goal.
That spared Burnley’s blushes somewhat, but losing 3-0 away to a side who they came up with last season was humiliating in its own right.
Sunderland will hope this game can breathe new life into their European push, and as the only unbeaten side at home in the Premier League this term (W7, D5), they have solid foundations to build upon.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Habib Diarra (Sunderland)