Stokes and Wallace strike as Keane’s Black Cats purr
Grant Leadbitter, debutant Greg Halford and Daryl Murphy had already gone close before Wallace fired in at the back post in the 12th minute after David Connolly’s dummy fooled the home defence.
Murphy missed a sharp chance to head in a rebound after Connolly’s shot was parried and Halford’s shot was then deflected narrowly over.
The Black Cats continued to dominate but both sides struggled to put moves together as the pitch deteriorated.
Keane made nine changes at the break and substitute Stern John had a chance with a one on one just three minutes after coming on, but fired over. The Trinidadian’s close-range header was then saved by Andy Oakes.
The League Two side had the ball in the net late on but Sunderland goalkeeper Darren Ward was ruled to have been barged over the line by Alex Rhodes.
Youngster Stokes made it two with 15 minutes left when he latched on to a speculative punt forward to finish clinically.
Manchester City new boy Rolando Bianchi marked his debut with a goal as the Blues beat Swedish side Orgryte 4-1 in a friendly tonight.
The Italian, signed from Reggina for a reported £8.8million, opened the scoring from close range after a one-two with striker partner Emile Mpenza.
Orgryte equalised through Boyd Mwila on 37 minutes but Bernardo Corradi restored City’s lead in the second half after a shot from youngster Shaleum Logan hit the post.
Greek striker Georgios Samaras headed in a third from a Darius Vassell cross before Logan rounded off the scoring in the 64th minute.
Mikael Forssell was on the mark again as Birmingham continued their German tour with another win.
The Finn, who scored in the friendly against Hohenlohe Auswahl, got the only goal against Heidenheim in the first half. Blues manager Steve Bruce gave debuts to Scotland striker Garry O’Connor and French attacking midfielder Olivier Kapo.
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