Birmingham 1 Sunderland 2: Highlights after Ellis Simms and Amad Diallo goals give Cats win
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Black Cats took a first-half lead when Amad set up Ellis Simms to score in the 25th minute.
Birmingham saw more of the ball but fell further behind when Amad scored an excellent second for the Black Cats, converting in front of the travelling fans.
Substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz then pulled a goal back for Birmingham 12 minutes from time but Sunderland were able to hold on.
Here’s how the game played out:
RECAP: Birmingham 1 (Jutkiewicz, 78) Sunderland 2 (Simms, 25) (Amad, 48)
Key Events
- Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, Wright, Batth, Huggins, Evans, Neil, Amad (Roberts, 65), Pritchard (Embleton, 84) , Clarke, Simms (Matete, 84)
- Subs: Bass, Johnson, Matete, Ba, Bennette, Roberts, Embleton
- Birmingham XI: Ruddy, Colin (Hall, 58) , Sanderson, Trusty, Longelo, Bielik (James, 87), Hannibal (Chong, 58), Bacuna, Bellingham (Jutkiewicz, 58), Hogan, Deeney
- Subs: Etheridge, Friend, Graham, James, Hall, Chong, Jutkiewicz
It’s Matchday!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Sunderland’s Championship fixture at Birmingham.
The Black Cats will be hoping to get back to winning ways in their final fixture before the World Cup break, following last weekend’s defeat against Cardiff.
We’ll have all the build-up ahead of the match, as well as in-game analysis and post-match reaction.
Stick around and refresh the page for live updates throughout the night.
Team news
We’ll start with the Sunderland team news.
Luke O’Nien will miss Friday’s game after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Cardiff, resulting in a one-match suspension.
Sunderland will also be without several first-team players due to injury setbacks, including Daniel Ballard, Aji Alese, Lynden Gooch, Edouard Michut and Ross Stewart.
Mowbray also hinted in Thursday’s press conference that he is facing yet more injury concerns.
“There’s lots... but none that I can tell you about,” replied Mowbray when asked about injuries ahead of the match.
Ellis Simms started his first game for over a month against Cardiff on Saturday after recovering from a toe issue.
Mowbray on Birmingham
Here’s what the Sunderland boss had to say about Birmingham ahead of tonight’s match:
“I think watching them, my Blackburn team played against them for the last five years. They look like a team with an identity. Front foot, high press.
“Out of possession I think they are 23rd in the league so they are not really interested in having the ball but are very good at taking it off you.
“We have to be ready for that and know what’s coming.”
How Birmingham are shaping up
The Blues are 10th in the table ahead of the match and drew 2-2 with Swansea last time out, meaning they have lost just once in their last eight fixtures.
To find out more we caught up with Charlie Haffenden from Birmingham World on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast
Here’s what he said when asked about former Sunderland defender Dion Sanderson, who has been a key player for the Blues this season:
“He’s a real physical player who can play central and play on the right of a three.
“He just is a real powerhouse in the centre of defence. He’s still young at 22, come in having had experience at a Premier League club in Wolves.
“I think they would love to get him on a permanent basis with him being on loan at the moment. He really has fitted in that well.”
Eustace on Birmingham’s schedule
Birmingham boss John Eustace isn’t happy with his side’s schedule after playing on Tuesday night.
“We have got to go again in 72 hours which is going to be a real tough ask of the group,” said Eustace following his side’s draw with Swansea. “But they will be ready for it and we will see.
“But the schedule is definitely wrong in my opinion. Sunderland not playing in the week and they come fresh on Friday. I think it’s a bit unfair.”
Predicted line-ups
Here are our predicted line-ups for tonight’s match:
Predicted Birmingham XI: Ruddy; Roberts, Sanderson, Trusty; Colin, Bielik, Chong, Bacuna, Longelo; Hogan, Jutkiewicz
Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson; Hume, Wright, Batth, Cirkin; Evans, Neil; Roberts, Pritchard, Clarke; Simms
Youngsters travel with the squad
Sunderland academy prospects Tom Watson, Chris Rigg and Zak Johnson have travelled with the squad for tonight’s fixture.