Monday, October 26, 2009
IF Sunderland were growing giddy at their sprightly start to the new season, this was the most brutal of reality checks.
An anaemic performance and dreadful result at a team any European hopeful should be beating stalled the club’s ambitions and their captain, Lorik Cana, has urged the Wearsiders to wise up quickly if they are to prosper this season.
The Black Cats arrived at St Andrew’s having taken four points from the last six possible – at Manchester United and at home to Liverpool – but their optimism was blown away inside 48 minutes as Birmingham, playing in front of new owner Carson Yeung for the first time, deservedly snaffled maximum points.
"It’s very disappointing for us, but it’s not the first time this season after some good results," Cana said.
"Especially when we have won at home sometimes, we can’t keep our level of play – and we must turn that around in future games.
"Everybody knows the potential and quality of our team. But it’s a hard league, and you have to be 100% concentrated all the time and start well in games.
"We must learn from that and change our mentality to keep our level over two or three games. We have a lot of work to do."
Sunderland simply did not turn up until the closing stages of the game.
They may count themselves slightly unfortunate to have gone behind when Liam Ridgewell bundled Sebastian Larsson’s free-kick past Craig Gordon from a suspiciously advanced position, but no flag came to their rescue.
They increased their lead within three minutes of the restart – the first time they have scored twice in a league game this season – and this time, Bruce’s men could have no complaints.
Cameron Jerome cleverly back-heeled Larsson’s cross into the path of James McFadden, who stepped inside full-back Phil Bardsley before calmly passing the ball past Gordon and behind the covering Michael Turner into the bottom corner.
Sunderland rallied late on, with Dann turning Turner’s 82nd-minute header into his own net.
For Alex McLeish, the home performance was as important as the Blues’ third league win of the campaign – with Ecuadorian striker Benitez catching the eye.
"Benitez knows where to find space," he reflected. "He’s a natural in terms of that. He looks as if he is going to be a star."
REFEREE: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire) 6: Might have been let down by his assistants for the first goal, which looked offside.
MATCH RATING: ** Birmingham benefited from switching to a two-man strike force – much more fluent.
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