Nobody seems quite sure how good Burnley can be this season, least of all themselves, but this win moved them menacingly to the Championship summit.
For a team who have spent seven of the past eight years in the Premier League, their lofty early-season position should come as no real surprise. Still, the manner of victory was impressive.
Jaidon Anthony’s clinical 37th-minute opener and captain Josh Brownhill’s clincher shortly after half-time showed Scott Parker’s men to be in a different class to their hosts.
Parker, appointed after Vincent Kompany jumped ship for Bayern Munich, saw his side extend their unbeaten league run to seven games. The Burnley boss, who joined his players in fist-pumping in front of 3,000 jubilant away fans, said: ‘I’m very pleased but right now the league table means absolutely nothing to me.
‘We’re a brand new team — practically eight or nine weeks old — and have done incredibly well so far, but there will be bumps in the road ahead so we need to build a siege mentality. I thought we had control over 90 minutes and in certain moments we had to stand up; in other moments we showed our quality and looked a real threat.’
Jaidon Anthony’s clinical opener and Josh Brownhill’s (pictured) strike sealed victory for the Clarets
Sheffield Wednesday had taken seven points from their previous three games, yet Burnley withstood everything that was thrown at them and took their chances with aplomb.
The Owls could not find the touch of quality needed to unlock a visiting defence who kept a fourth successive clean sheet.
After Ike Ugbo headed wastefully over, Burnley led when Anthony latched on to CJ Egan-Riley’s pass to escape the clutches of Wednesday’s static back line before rifling past James Beadle.
It was Anthony’s first goal for the club and Brownhill, who was outstanding in midfield, fired home his fifth of the campaign after Zian Flemming’s initial effort was blocked.
Parker added: ‘I was pleased for Jaidon. I worked with him at Bournemouth and he’s a great pro.’
Owls’ German boss Danny Rohl said: ‘We knew beforehand that Burnley didn’t need many chances — that’s why they’re top of the league.’