Goals from Ellis Simms and Amad sent Sunderland into the World Cup break on the back of a hard-fought win at Birmingham City. Simms scored his first goal since August to give the Black Cats the lead inside half an hour at St Andrew's, before Amad scored a stunning solo goal just after half-time.
Birmingham - who had hit the woodwork through Troy Deeney inside the opening ten minutes - pulled a goal back through substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz with a little over ten minutes remaining to ensure a nerve-wracking ending which saw the hosts pile forward, with one shot blocked on the line and another saved by Anthony Patterson. But Sunderland held on to win, ending Birmingham's four-game unbeaten run in the process, and they moved up to 12th in the table, albeit ahead of the full weekend programme.
Tony Mowbray made four changes to the side that lost at home to Cardiff City last weekend, with two of those changes forced upon him. Niall Huggins made his first-team comeback after 14 months on the sidelines, replacing the injured Dennis Cirkin at left-back, while Trai Hume came in for the suspended Luke O'Nien at right-back.
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And in midfield, Corry Evans and Alex Pritcharrd - who were rotated out of the starting XI against Cardiff - returned, with Abdoullah Ba and Patrick Roberts dropping to the bench. Birmingham City boss John Eustace made two changes, in his case to the side that drew 2-2 at home to Swansea City on Tuesday night, with on-loan Derby midfielder Krystian Bielik and teenager Jobe Bellingham - who was making his first league start - replacing Jordan Graham and Tahith Chong.
Sunderland made a rapid start, with Pritchard and Jack Clarke combining to fashion a chance for Amad inside the opening five minutes, but Blues' keeper John Ruddy made an excellent block to prevent the on-loan Manchester United man opening the scoring. Pritchard then drove a free-kick into the wall from 25 yards out, and when the rebound came back to him his first-time shot was saved by Ruddy.
But Birmingham were inches away from taking the lead on eight minutes when a cross was flicked on by one-time Sunderland loanee Dion Sanderson, and Troy Deeney's header beat Patterson but came back off the bar, with Scott Hogan then heading his follow-up effort straight at the keeper. Sunderland took the lead on 25 minutes with a goal that owed much to Amad's clever footwork just outside the box as he got the better of three defenders before slipping the ball to Simms inside the area on the right and he fired low across Ruddy into the bottom left-hand corner.
A foul by Hannibal on Clarke gave Pritchard another shooting chance from a free-kick just outside the box, but this time he sent his effort narrowly wide of the right-hand upright. At the other end, Patterson made a vital block to deny Hogan after he had been played in on goal by Deeney.
But after going in ahead at the break, Sunderland gave themselves breathing space as they doubled their lead within five minutes of the restart. Neil held off an attempted foul by Hannibal and threaded a precision pass through to release Amad down the right, he advanced on the penalty area and cut inside onto his left foot before curling a stunning finish beyond the helpless Ruddy and in off the left-hand post.
Birmingham responded with a triple change, and after that they began to put Sunderland under pressure. Bielik saw a couple of shots blocked, while sub George Hall sent an effort narrowly wide of the top right-hand corner, with Jutkiewicz also off-target with a shot.
But the Blues' pressure finally told in the 78th minute, as Emmanuel Longelo advanced down the left and his cross was missed by Bailey Wright, with the ball finding its way to Jutkiewicz and he stroked it home. Sunderland had to mount a rearguard action in the final ten minutes as Birmingham threw everything forward, and Sanderson saw a shot blocked on the line and then his follow-up saved by Patterson.
How they lined up
Birmingham City: Ruddy, Colin (Jutkiewicz 59), Sanderson, Trusty, Bacuna, Bellingham (Hall 59), Bielik (James 87), Hannibal (Chong 59), Longelo, Deeney, Hogan. Subs not used: Etheridge, Friend, Graham
Booked: Hannibal
Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Wright, Batth, Huggins, Evans, Neil, Amad (Roberts 66), Pritchard (Matete 85), Clarke, Simms (Embleton 85). Subs not used: Bass, Ba, Bennette, Johnson
Booked: Huggins, Evans, Matete, Clarke
Referee: Andy Madley (West Yorkshire)
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