Burnley boss Vincent Kompany admits his side will have learned plenty at Sunderland after staging a stunning second-half comeback following a first half the Belgian “hated everything about”.
It looked like the Clarets’ 13-match unbeaten run was about to come to an end at the Stadium of Light after early strikes from Amad Diallo and Dan Neil saw Sunderland leading 2-0 at half-time.
But three goals in 19 second-half minutes through Nathan Tella, Manuel Benson and Anass Zaroury turned the game around before Burnley skipper Josh Brownhill wrapped up a 4-2 win before the end.
Former Manchester City and Belgium captain Kompany, who took over in June after a spell at Anderlecht, said: “Every lesson we need to have about football was in this game.
“I hated everything about the first half, how we turned up, the intensity, the challenges, and football starts with intensity, challenges and running. You can have a bad day, but the basics weren’t here.
“Second half is everything I love about the game. When your basics go I don’t think you need to mess about at half-time. I can move as many magnets on the tactics board as I like but it’s pointless if you’re not doing the basics right.
“We have not encountered this situation this season. They have set the standards high in terms of energy but this was the first time this season we showed this.
“Sunderland were really good first half but it has to be more of a fight, it has to be more contested. We learned about each other.
“The second half was too good a performance to say we got away with it. We weren’t at it first half. The lesson is you don’t give up, and if you drop your standards you are bang average.”
Diallo, on loan from Manchester United, had put Sunderland ahead in the 16th minute when he side-footed beyond Arijanet Muric after good work from Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke.
Four minutes later Neil made it 2-0 when he fired low and inside Muric’s near post after Connor Roberts failed to deal with a cross.
Kompany introduced Benson for Ashley Barnes at the break and within four minutes of the restart, Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed into the six-yard area for Tella to head in.
Belgian Benson levelled when the ball he clipped into the area evaded everyone and bounced inside the far corner just after the hour.
And with 21 minutes remaining his compatriot Zaroury cut inside from the left before curling brilliantly inside the far corner. To wrap things up Brownhill finished cooly with three minutes remaining.
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