Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder insists he “is not looking at the table” after his side moved into sixth place in the Premier League with an impressive victory over Burnley at Bramall Lane.
All of the Blades’ goals came before half-time, with John Lundstram scoring twice.
Wilder’s side, who finished second in the Championship last season, are now unbeaten in four outings.
“I’ve not looked at the league table and I won’t do,” said Wilder. “I’ll only assess the season at the death.”
Lys Mousset assisted all three goals, with Lundstram’s second followed by John Fleck’s first of the season just 90 seconds later.
Burnley’s claims for a VAR penalty for handball by Jack O’Connell when 1-0 down were refused as United kept their fifth clean sheet of the season.
Lundstram had several chances to complete his hat-trick in the second half, going closest when forcing Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope into a good save.
Pope also denied substitute Billy Sharp with his feet, while Burnley failed to have a shot on target and slip down the table into 14th place.
“It’s an accumulation of points for us. It always has been and it always will be,” added Wilder, who took over at Bramall Lane in May 2016 when the club were in League One.
“We will have difficult days to come and poor results in this division, I understand that because of the level that we are at.”
‘Blades and Lundstram have raised their game’
United’s impressive return to the top flight just keeps on going, with their fourth game unbeaten and their biggest win of the season to date.
Their only loss in their last six outings in the league was a somewhat unlucky 1-0 defeat by leaders Liverpool, while against Burnley they were rarely troubled and out of sight by half-time.
Wilder’s approach has won praise, and both of Lundstram’s goals came at the end of slick moves that swept down the left flank.
Low crosses from David McGoldrick and Enda Stevens received subtle touches in the middle from Mousset, setting up Lundstram for shots that the 25-year-old midfielder tucked away with confidence.
Mousset worked hard to to give Fleck his chance, quickly latching on to a mistake by James Tarkowski near halfway.
“John raised his game in the summer – as we all had to,” Wilder added. “We’re going into a completely different league, and when you’re playing at this level everybody has to raise their level. John is someone who has looked comfortable and at home in the Premier League.”
The forthcoming meetings with Tottenham and Manchester United may have looked formidable when the fixture list was announced, but thanks to some outstanding displays the South Yorkshire club are looking down on both of their next two opponents.
Problems at both ends for Burnley
The Clarets’ first top-flight visit to Bramall Lane since 1975 ended badly, but the opening exchanges were end-to-end and there were claims for an early penalty when Jay Rodriguez tangled with O’Connell.
Hindsight makes the VAR penalty decision look like a turning point, but loose defending by Sean Dyche’s side twice inside two minutes just before the break gave them too much to do in the second half.
Dyche’s Burnley have had a hard-to-beat reputation in recent seasons but now they are conceding goals at a worrying rate.
Three consecutive defeats have seen nine goals go in, doubling the ‘goals against’ column from their previous eight outings this season.
The lack of efforts on target will also be a concern to Dyche, who will be hoping that striker Chris Wood gets over his hamstring injury soon.
The New Zealander scored four goals in his last four appearances, and while this was only the second time Burnley have drawn a blank this season, they cannot afford toothless displays to become a habit.
Man of the match – John Lundstram (Sheffield United)
‘Unacceptable’ – manager reaction
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: “The first half was unacceptable, it’s as simple as that. Too many players were way off the mark.
“There were a couple of decisions that I felt went against that might have got us out of jail. J-Rod got clipped. We’ve seen those given, although we don’t get many of them. We’ve been hearing a lot about ‘soft contacts’ lately and he gets one today from behind and nothing is given. He doesn’t dive, he falls naturally, but doesn’t get it.
“Then there was the handball, which I think everyone would expect to get a penalty for. But I need to be clear, they would have got us out of jail because they were miles better than us in the first half.”
Woe on the road for Clarets – the stats
- By scoring three goals, all in the first half, Sheffield United equalled their total haul from their previous five home Premier League games (three in five home games)
- Burnley are winless in their last eight away Premier League games, their longest such run since their first 17 on the road in 2016-17
- Sheffield United are the 54th different side Burnley manager Sean Dyche has faced in his English league career – but just the fourth he hasn’t beaten, also failing against Arsenal (nine games), Man Utd (eight games) and Coventry (two games).
- Burnley have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 13 away league games, since a goalless draw at Watford in January
- Burnley conceded three goals in a Premier League first half for the first time since December 2018 against Everton
- This is just the ninth occasion a Sheffield United player has scored two or more goals in a Premier League game, with John Lundstram the first to do so since Nathan Blake against Newcastle in April 1994
- Sheffield United attacker Lys Moussett is the ninth player to register three assists in the first half of a Premier League game and the first since Kyle Walker-Peters for Tottenham against Bournemouth in December 2018
- Mousset is also just the fifth player to assist three or more goals in a single Premier League game for a newly promoted side, and the first since Darren Huckerby for Norwich in January 2005
What’s next?
United take on Spurs at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, 9 November at 15:00 GMT, while Burnley host West Ham at Turf Moor at the same time.
