Sunderland 2-0 Burnley

Jermain Defoe got off the mark in his third appearance for Sunderland

• Defoe scores 125th Premier League goal

• Sunderland claim second home league win of season

• Now just one win in nine for Burnley

• Speculation affected Ings, says Dyche

Jermain Defoe scored his first goal for Sunderland as the Black Cats eased clear of the Premier League relegation zone with victory at home to Burnley.

Connor Wickham opened the scoring on 20 minutes with a firm header following a clinical Sunderland attack.

Another well-worked move created the second as master poacher Defoe turned in Patrick van Aanholt's centre.

The wins lifts Gus Poyet's Sunderland up to 14th place, four points clear of the drop zone.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche was able to name an unchanged team for the ninth successive league match, and almost saw his settled line-up nose ahead when Ashley Barnes headed wide from a free-kick.

Sunderland's goalless FA Cup draw with Fulham last week was greeted with boos at full-time, prompting Poyet to bemoan a "missed connection" with the fans.

The need to impress at the Stadium of Light - where the Black Cats had won just once in the league all season - was therefore in his mind before this game, and the hosts duly hit the front with a stylish goal midway through the first half.

Sebastian Larsson's strength and vision created the opening for Anthony Reveillere to send over a perfect cross for Wickham, who headed back across the scrambling Tom Heaton and into the far corner for his third league goal of the season.

Sunderland's connection with the home faithful further solidified when more incisive approach play made it 2-0 on 34 minutes.

Jordi Gomez sprung the offside trap with a cute lofted pass to the advanced Van Aanholt, who controlled and picked out Defoe to apply a simple finish.

The strike was Defoe's first in three games since arriving at Sunderland from Toronto FC earlier this month - and first in English football since scoring in Tottenham's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on 11 January last year.

Another of the strikers on show, Burnley's Danny Ings, endured a frustrating afternoon in the week that the Clarets firmly rebuffed Liverpool's supposed advances towards the 22-year-old.

Aside from one surge forward that ended with a half-chance for strike partner Barnes, Ings was largely anonymous and made way for Lukas Jutkiewicz with half an hour to go.

Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe:

"It was important that we got the win today. It was a massive win. We created a lot of chances, the fans were fantastic. The energy from start to finish was fantastic. We managed to get the early goal which helped us, settled us down.

"The Premier League is the best in the world and that's where you want to be. I feel like I have a lot of goals left in me."

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet:

"It was much needed. We knew Burnley would be hard-working. First and foremost we needed to match that, and we did. Then we needed to impose ourselves with quality.

"The players on the pitch knew how important it was but we don't need to think we are OK - we need to go to the next level. I want this to be a turning point. I hope we will go into the next game with the confidence we were looking for."

Connor Wickham's goal was his fourth in all competitions this season

Jermain Defoe's goal was his first in English football for more than a year

Gus Poyet had seen his Sunderland side fail to win in their last five Premier League outings

Danny Ings has scored seven Premier League goals this season but had a frustrating afternoon