VIDEO - How Sunderland played a blinder against the Blues

Birmingham visited the Stadium of Light with both teams in need of a win. Wayne Rooney was coming off the back of five games without one and Sunderland were looking to get their promotion hopes back on track with one.

It was the Black Cats who started the faster and brighter, with Rusyn hitting the bar in the tenth minute and Bellingham tapping home the opening goal after just a quarter of an hour from a reasonably worked corner move. With 20 minutes gone it was all Sunderland, who had nine shots at goal and 70% of the possession. The Blues meanwhile had struggled to even earn a corner. 

However, Rooney's aggressive press started to pay dividends and Birmingham found more of the ball and it delivered an equaliser through Koji Miyoshi sending the teams in, level at the break.

The second half however saw Sunderland power home with plenty of chances. Mowbray kept up the pressure with a series of attacking substitutes beyond the hour mark. Anthony Patterson was not seriously called into action in the second half until the 90th minute, by which time the game was out of reach for Wayne Rooney's men. 

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The second half however saw Sunderland power home with plenty of chances. Mowbray kept up the pressure with a series of attacking substitutes beyond the hour mark. Anthony Patterson was not seriously called into action in the second half until the 90th minute, by which time the game was out of reach for Wayne Rooney's men. 

The second half however saw Sunderland power home with plenty of chances. Mowbray kept up the pressure with a series of attacking substitutes beyond the hour mark. Anthony Patterson was not seriously called into action in the second half until the 90th minute, by which time the game was out of reach for Wayne Rooney's men.