Sunderland were beaten 2-0 by Burnley
Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris.
Regis Le Bris admitted Sunderland must learn and grow quickly after their potentially-damaging 2-0 defeat at Burnley, emphasising the positives of a strong first-half display.
Regardless of those positives, though, to come unstuck against their fellow promoted side and to allow them to go level on points was disappointing and shows that a good start to the season does not rest purely on just the opening-day result.
That early bubble was well and truly burst at Turf Moor, while Brentford, Sunderland’s next opponents, also picked up a morale-boosting win.
The Black Cats started brightly, with Eliezer Mayenda going close in the early stages before Dan Ballard was forced off with a groin injury.
Chemsdine Talbi then went close, shaving the far post after being picked out by Simon Adingra, while the hosts saw a goal disallowed for a foul on Jenson Seelt.
Burnley eventually made the breakthrough shortly after the restart, Josh Cullen curling home from the edge of the area following a clever flick from Jaidon Anthony. The pair combined again late on, Anthony rounding Robin Roefs to seal the points for Scott Parker’s side.
Speaking to safc.com after the game, Le Bris praised the spirit within his squad: “I am disappointed because we lost, but we started well and the first half was good.
“We created some good chances. We didn’t score, and in a game like this, the first goal was always going to be important because it changed everything.
“It was the case at the beginning of the first half. We made a small mistake and after that the game changed.
“We struggled to find a solution to create rhythm in the final third.” He continued: “We have a new team, a new squad so it is a long process. We need to learn from different experiences.
“We weren’t strong enough to deal with Burnley’s challenge in the second half. We need to work more and we will have a different challenge next week. We need to learn and grow quickly.”
Sunderland’s win on the opening day against West Ham United was put sharply into focus by their 5-1 home drubbing to Chelsea on Friday night.
Leeds also received a ‘welcome to the Premier League’ moment as they were thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal.