Birmingham City suffered an agonising loss against Sunderland at St. Andrew’s Stadium. A win for the Blues would have seen them move into the play-off positions ahead of London side QPR. However, the game finished Birmingham City 1-2 Sunderland on a night headlined by Sunderland’s loan players.

Ellis Simmis – on loan from Everton – scored the first goal for Sunderland giving the away side the lead after 25 minutes. His goal was assisted by Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo who scored a great goal of his own to extend Sunderland’s lead straight after half-time. This was the youngster’s third goal in his last five games. The loan players were pivotal in Sunderland’s victory, with their goals proving enough to earn the three points and move Sunderland into 12th (only four points off the play-off positions).

It was a night of missed opportunities for the Blues. Just seven minutes into the first half, homegrown captain Troy Deeney’s header bounced off the crossbar. Then, just before half-time, Scott Hogan wasted another great opportunity when he missed a one-on-one with Anthony Patterson. It was an uncharacteristic miss for the leading scorer in the Championship. The ball did eventually fall into the back of the net for the hosts when substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz provided a lifeline in the 78th minute. However, it was all in vain and not even seven minutes of added time was enough for the Blues to find an equaliser.

The Blues have a wide array of young talent in the centre of their squad. The Tunisian international, Hannibal Mejbri – another loanee from Manchester United – also has great potential and has played an integral role so far this season. Former Manchester United player Tahith Chong looked vibrant tonight when he came off the bench. All three players will be hoping to maintain a place in the Blues’ squad and hope to contribute to a successful season.

The atmosphere was rocking the whole night and really picked up for the Blues’ fans with twenty minutes to go. They will be disappointed not to have seen their team end the game with a point after their dominant second-half display. The Blues finished the game with an average of 59% possession and 22 shots, 16 more than Sunderland’s six. However, out of these 22 shots, only six hit the target.

Ultimately, it was a frustrating evening for the Blues, one which they will be looking to bounce back from after the World Cup break where they travel to league strugglers Blackpool on the tenth of December. Indeed, Sunderland will be hoping to take their winning form into their match against Millwall on the 3rd of December as they now sit one point below the Lions.

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