Cats beat nerves to sink Blues

Sunderland managed to avoid yet another late sucker-punch by inflicting their own on Birmingham City to run out 3-1 winners in Saturday's Premier League encounter at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats could be challenging for a Europa League place had their dismal record of conceding late goals not tormented them throughout the campaign, but the Wearside outfit clinched an excellent three points thanks to Frazier Campbell's strike six minutes from time.

Steve Bruce's side, who have scored more goals in the opening 15 minutes than any other side in the division, continued to prove they are strong starters as Darren Bent grabbed his 20th goal of the season from Benjani Mwaruwari's blocked shot with the match just five minutes old.

The Blues, who struggled immensely with the rain-sodden pitch, shot themselves in the foot with some sloppy defending to allow Bent to grab his second of the afternoon from Steed Malbranque's defence-splitting assist to further enhance his England hopes.

But the visitors, who came back from two goals down against Everton in their last outing, fought back by dominating the second half and Alex McLeish's side had their reward when Cameron Jerome netted his ninth of the season after a delightful through-ball by Michel.

Birmingham continued to carve out a glut of opportunities, but Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon continued his fine form with several outstanding saves from Jerome, Christian Benitez, Stephen Carr, Liam Ridgewell and Craig Gardner to keep the hosts ahead.

And with 88 minutes on the clock and the game hanging in the balance, Birmingham gifted the game to Sunderland when Jordan Henderson took advantage of some woeful defending to tee-up Campbell to seal the spoils and lift the Black Cats up to 12th.

Defeat for Birmingham was a reverse of the result when the two sides met at St Andrews in October and dented their hopes of closing the gap on arch-rivals Aston Villa in the top half of the table.

The game was Sunderland's fourth in succession at the Stadium of Light, and with the previous three having yielded five points, manager Steve Bruce was keen to increase that tally to eight ahead of tough away trips to Aston Villa and Liverpool.

Potency

By the time the game was just 11 minutes old, his team were on target to do just that, thanks largely to Bent's continued potency.

The £10million man's 19 goals before kick-off represented a major contribution to the 31 points the Wearsiders had collected from their first 29 games of the campaign.

However, a lightning quick double took him past the 20-goal mark, the accepted line which separates the top strikers from the rest, and put the home side firmly in control.

His first came when Benjani, making his first start for the club in place of the injured Kenwyne Jones, saw his effort blocked and Bent rattled home the rebound from close range.

The second, on 11 minutes, was all his own work as he ran on to Malbranque's fine pass and cut inside defender Scott Dann before rifling a low drive past the helpless Hart.

It could have been 3-0 with 15 minutes gone but for Hart's save from Campbell, and it was then that Birmingham belatedly launched their fightback.

Twice inside a minute, Gordon had to dive full-length to turn away Keith Fahey strikes, and the Scot just managed to get enough on Benitez's 30th-minute header to tip it against the crossbar.

But the home side finished the half once again in the ascendancy, with Malbranque blazing over after Hart had palmed away Kieran Richardson's curling shot and then firing just wide from distance.

In a scrappy start to the second half, City were making a fist of it once again, although without making much of an impression going forward.

There was warm applause and even a song for former Sunderland hero Kevin Phillips as he warmed up on the sidelines, but it was Jerome who should have breathed new life into Birmingham's efforts to drag themselves back into the game with 54 minutes gone.

He ran in behind defender John Mensah, who had earlier required treatment for a knee injury, and went one-one-one with Gordon, but the goalkeeper came out on top as he blocked with his legs.

Deserted

Gordon excelled himself once again with a fine 59th-minute double save from Benitez and Carr, but he was finally beaten on the hour as his defence deserted him.

Jerome got in down the right and powered his way into the box before chipping a shot over the helpless Scot.

Birmingham would have been level 11 minutes later had Gordon not managed to claw away Ridgewell's goal-bound looping header, and fellow defender Roger Johnson headed wastefully over from the resulting corner.

There was a collective sharp intake of breath when Phillips, a 59th-minute replacement for Benitez, looped a header onto the roof of the net with nine minutes remaining.

Bent might have calmed the nerves when he went through with 86 minutes gone and lifted the ball over the advancing Hart, but his effort lacked pace and Johnson was able to get back to clear.

However, Campbell sealed the win when he met substitute Henderson's cross to finally kill off the visitors.