Sunderland 3 : Birmingham 1
03/20/2010 07:10:40 PM
went one-one-one with Gordon, but the goalkeeper came out on top as he blocked with his legs.
Gordon excelled himself once again with a fine 59th-minute double save from Benitez and Carr, but he was finally beaten on the hour as his defence deserted him.
Jerome got in down the right and powered his way into the box before chipping a shot over the helpless Scot.
Birmingham would have been level 11 minutes later had Gordon not managed to claw away Ridgewell's goal-bound looping header, and fellow defender Roger Johnson headed wastefully over from the resulting corner.
There was a collective sharp intake of breath when Phillips, a 59th-minute replacement for Benitez, looped a header onto the roof of the net with nine minutes remaining.
Bent might have calmed the nerves when he went through with 86 minutes gone and lifted the ball over the advancing Hart, but his effort lacked pace and Johnson was able to get back to clear.
However, Campbell sealed the win when he met substitute Jordan Henderson's cross to finally kill off the visitors.