Every word Alan Shearer said about Sunderland’s defeat vs Burnley on Match of the Day
Sunderland have been brought back down to earth after suffering their first defeat of the season.
Regis Le Bris’ side were on a high after thrashing West Ham United 3-0 on the opening day, marking their return to the Premier League in style.
However, Sunderland were defeated 2-0 by Burnley at Turf Moor to bring them back down to earth, as the Black Cats failed to take their chances in the first half before being punished after the break.
Alan Shearer received heavy criticism after giving minimal analysis after the West Ham victory, and the ex-Newcastle United striker was back on Match of the Day on Saturday night.
Alan Shearer shifts focus onto Burnley as Sunderland defeated
Shearer only spoke about West Ham after the 3-0 victory on the opening day, speaking on how poor they were without giving Sunderland any credit.
This week, the Englishman spoke more, but again veered attention away from the Wearsiders as he spoke at length about Burnley’s brilliant performance.
He reserved most of the praise for Josh Cullen, who scored the opener before assisting Jaiden Anthony for the second at the end of stoppage time.
Shearer said: “Well, he’s [Cullen] been around the block, he knows what it’s about, and you need that experience all the time to be honest.
“I mean, he was one of the better players last weekend, and he certainly stood out today in everything he did, whether that’s showing a great example and a great attitude to close him down, chasing lost causes.
| Josh Cullen vs Sunderland | Stats |
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Blocks | 2 |
| Recoveries | 4 |
“He was at the heart of everything that Burnley did well today, covering in the right positions, using all of that experience and know-how to get in tackles like that.
“But his goal was fantastic, and this is the moment that they needed, a great little flick there from Anthony, and the way he just guides it into the corner. It such a clever finish.
“Little flicks and tricks and whatever you want, why not? He seemed to enjoy it, particularly in that second half.”
“Sunderland missed a big chance early in the game, and they got punished for that, but just look where he is scanning already, he knows exactly where Anthony is and what ball he wants to play, and he hits it to perfection, and it’s just whether Anthony can go around the goalkeeper and finish it off, which he certainly can.
“It was a really impressive performance from Burnley, they had to win, they knew that, they had to protect and sit deep, and it was him again getting those vital tackles, and you can see what it means to him, to Burnley and to his manager Scott Parker, it was a really impressive performance.”
Alan Shearer is letting his bias get the better of him
This is now two weeks in a row that Shearer has failed to analyse the Black Cats’ performances on the BBC.
With Sunderland set to be playing at 3pm for the vast majority of the early part of the season, they will be appearing on Match of the Day regularly.
The Premier League record goalscorer is set to be on the show every Saturday, but he needs to take out his allegiances to be able to give a fair argument for his old enemy.
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