Sunderland’s home form continued to gather momentum as a first brace for Habib Diarra powered a convincing 3-0 Premier League victory over Burnley, stretching the Black Cats’ unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light and deepening the visitors’ prolonged struggles.
The result was shaped by the return to club duty of the Senegal international, who marked his first start since the Africa Cup of Nations with two first-half goals to put the contest firmly under Sunderland’s control.
Chemsdine Talbi later added a third with a spectacular strike to complete a dominant afternoon for the hosts.
Sunderland entered the match aiming to strengthen their position in the top half of the table and quickly imposed themselves.
Diarra, who had not scored since arriving during the summer transfer window, made an immediate impact.
Inside the opening ten minutes, he struck a low effort that took a decisive deflection off Axel Tuanzebe, wrong-footing goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and giving the home side an early lead.
The goal set the tone for a confident Sunderland performance, with Burnley struggling to contain the hosts’ intensity and movement.
Diarra remained central to Sunderland’s attacking threat and, just before the interval, he doubled the advantage.
A delivery from Nordi Mukiele was deflected by Florentino Luis into the midfielder’s path, allowing Diarra to finish and register his second of the afternoon.
The goals brought an end to a prolonged scoring drought and underlined the influence he can have in the side.
Burnley attempted to respond after the break but found clear chances hard to come by as Sunderland maintained control.
Any remaining hopes of a comeback were extinguished in the 72nd minute when Chemsdine Talbi produced a moment of quality.
Cutting inside from distance, he unleashed a curling effort that struck the crossbar before dropping into the top corner, drawing a loud response from the home crowd.
The victory lifts Sunderland to eighth place in the league standings and extends their unbeaten run at home to 12 matches, reinforcing the Stadium of Light’s reputation as a difficult venue for visiting sides.
For Burnley, the defeat compounds a difficult period, leaving them without a win in 15 consecutive league games and under increasing pressure as the season progresses.
