Burnley maintain flying Championship start with crushing win over Cardiff

Burnley thrashed Cardiff City 5-0 to continue their perfect start to the season and go top of the early Championship standings.

Having started life under Scott Parker with a 4-1 win at Luton Town on Monday, the Clarets produced another dazzling display on their first home outing of 2024-25.

Ethan Horvath’s own goal after just nine minutes gave them the lead and they never looked back from there, with further goals from Luca Koleosho, Josh Brownhill, Zeki Amdouni and Johann Berg Gudmundsson giving them a handsome win one day after they sold star winger Wilson Odobert to Tottenham.

Watford also made it two wins out of two with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Stoke City at Vicarage Road, with Edo Kayambe grabbing a brace and Ryan Andrews also netting.

Managerless Preston North End, meanwhile, continued their woeful start to the campaign as they fell to a 3-0 defeat at Swansea City.

Scott Parker’s five star Clarets make it two wins from two pic.twitter.com/IQn5lNraLj

— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) August 17, 2024

Bristol City sit just two points off the pace after edging Millwall in a seven-goal epic, their new signing Scott Twine coming off the bench to net the winner in a 4-3 triumph.

Twine’s 88th-minute effort decided a game in which the Robins threw away an early 2-0 lead to go 3-2 down, with Fally Mayulu dragging them back to 3-3 with 12 minutes to play.

Finally, Blackburn Rovers began life without Sammie Szmodics with a battling 2-2 draw away at Norwich City, with Yuki Ohashi scoring with just three minutes left.

Josh Sargent had a goal and an assist for the Canaries, and he has now netted 11 times in home Championship fixtures in 2024, more than any other player.