Inside the toughest afternoon yet for Tony Mowbray's Sunderland - what went wrong and what it told us

This had looked as if it was going to the early peak of Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland tenure and to an extent it probably was.

One by one Mowbray has seen key players from his squad sidelined and here again was yet another blow - Patrick Roberts picking up a knock in training in the days before the game. Sunderland weighed up taking the risk on a winger so important to their attacking threat but clear was the risk of him becoming another sidelined until after the World Cup.

Ballard, Alese, Simms, Stewart, Roberts - these are key players for a squad already slim and inexperienced to be without all at once. Burnley may not yet be dominant in terms of the Championship table but Sunderland’s pre-match analysis flagged them up as arguably the strongest side they would face, certainly in terms of their build-up and possession play.

Sunderland opted not to sit in but to disrupt and to try and land some punches of their own. The visitors were on the ropes and Kompany knew it. Sunderland didn’t dominate possession but they had more than most do and what they did with it was impressive, a clever finish from Amad capping another fine team move. The second featured some dire defending in Burnley’s own box but it was also a reward for both Elliot Embleton and Dan Neil’s desire and ambition, both rewarded for breaking into advanced areas as the former crossed and the latter fired on on his weaker left foot. First time, too.

This was the very best of what we have seen from Mowbray’s Sunderland so far. Brave, easy on the eye and tactically resourceful in the face of these seemingly never-ending injury issues.

Kompany explained that his half-time message was a pretty simple one. There’s no point moving magnets around on a tactics board if you don’t match your opponent’s intensity. Though of course there was one significant shift of those magnets, with Nathan Tella moving infield and Manuel Benson substituted onto the right flank. In the end this would be crucial, a sign of Burnley’s impressive squad depth as the Belgian winger drove relentlessly into the heart of the Sunderland defence for 45 minutes.

Was this turnaround all about Burnley’s class or Sunderland’s failings? The truth, as ever, probably lies somewhere in between.

Now this was ‘everything I love’ about football, Kompany said. His side were more direct, more competitive and it allowed their quality to shine through. Sunderland, Mowbray reflected, went into ‘protection mode’. It was a team that looked caught between trying to press home their advantage and trying to defend it. It was a young side lacking clarity and they were ruthlessly punished for it.

Burnley’s third perhaps best encapsulated the change in direction. Yet it was in part very poor defending, a fairly aimless long ball not dealt with and then a second chance to clear the lines not taken. But from there it was simply outstanding play, a glorious finish from Anass Zaroury who had been part of a Burnley left flank malfunctioning badly in the first half but now vibrant and aggressive in driving forward.

It was lost on no one that the first goal of the second half, the one that did so much to change the momentum of the game, came from a corner. Yes, Sunderland most certainly should have defended their box better and particularly against the eventual goal scorer Tella, himself far from the tallest player on the pitch. But Sunderland’s current absences have robbed them almost entirely of height and physicality, Danny Batth often cutting a lone figure trying to dominate the aerial battle. Right now making the first contact on any set play is almost impossible for Sunderland, and it is undermining any good work taking place elsewhere on the pitch. It’s cost them already at Watford, at Swansea and now here and in truth along the way it could have been even worse.

Sunderland did threaten even through the turbulence, Clarke and Amad going close to reprising their first-half combination and the former had a good chance at 2-2 when he was played through into the box.

It was Zaroury’s strike that seemed to all but end the game as a contest, the visitors managing the game effectively and not allowing Mowbray’s side to build any sort of rhythm.

It was in the end a sobering anti climax to an afternoon that at one stage had offered so much.

That there would be moments like this in the campaign was obvious right from the start, with a group so young and inexperienced. Burnley have invested well since their relegation from the Premier League and the gulf between the two squads and the two clubs at this stage remains significant.

Sunderland played a part in their own downfall here but right now it feels as if Mowbray and his players are fighting against the tide before the World Cup break hopefully allows them to get some key figures back. Even in the glow of watching his side turn the contest around so spectacularly, it was telling that Kompany referenced more than once in his post-match press conference the level of disruption that Sunderland are experiencing due to injuries. The gaps left at the end of the transfer window have been glaringly exposed. Even in that time there have been positives everywhere you look, Neil and Embleton’s first goals at the level over the last week a reflection of their growing comfort in the Championship.

But the overall dip in results in the absence of strikers is obvious and remains a real challenge. There are four games before that World Cup break, and Sunderland will hope that at the very least Ellis Simms can return to make some sort of impact.

This was the steepest of learning curves.