Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham players must have misheard their new manager’s soundbite-friendly pledge when he took charge last month. At present, they are not so much ‘no fear’, more no idea.
England’s former all-time leading goalscorer insisted he would ‘elevate’ the Blues, but at present he has guided them out of the top- six place they occupied when John Eustace was unfathomably sacked and deep into the bottom half of the Championship.
Rooney was keen to direct the blame towards the match officials after a fifth game without a win, saying: ‘No win in five is not ideal, but I knew when I came in that we had really tough games coming up.
‘With their first goal, the officials didn’t see their player headed it out when they gave a corner.
‘The frustrating thing is the fourth official stood next to me told me it’s a goal kick.’
Adil Aouchiche scored his first goal in a Sunderland shirt just two minutes after introduction
The second-half substitute produced a moment of magic to net his first after a summer move
Wayne Rooney is still without his first win as Birmingham City manager on another trying day
More tellingly, he added: ‘We have to defend the corner better.’
A decent side would have taken advantage of Sunderland’s rookie centre-back pairing, with suspension to the regular incumbents meaning Jenson Seelt and Nectar Triantis made their first league starts.
Both looked vulnerable, but all Birmingham had to show was a first-half equaliser swept home by Koji Miyoshi, cancelling out Jobe Bellingham’s 17th‑minute opener, the former Blues midfielder volleying home a Nazariy Rusyn flick from Jack Clarke’s corner.
Birmingham’s defending from set-pieces bordered on the shambolic and Sunderland’s second came from a short corner early in the second half, as Emanuel Aiwu’s attempted clearance ended up in his own net off the arm of his skipper Dion Sanderson, under pressure from Triantis.
Clarke put Sunderland’s third on a plate for substitute Adil Aouchiche and Tony Mowbray’s side should have won by more, hitting the frame of the goal twice.
So far, the much heralded ‘winning mentality’ Rooney was meant to instil has seen them take one point from a possible 15.
He added: ‘Concentration let us down for the second goal when we switched off.
‘I spoke to them about it and that has to be there for 90 minutes. The players need to be accountable.’
Sunderland remain in the thick of the play-off race and Mowbray said: ‘The team epitomised a young team today, we were so dominant for 30 minutes.
Jobe Bellingham (centre left) opened the scoring for the home side against his boyhood club after just 17 minutes
Birmingham were able to offer a prompt rejoinder when Koji Miyoshi shovelled in the equaliser on the half-hour mark
‘We could have been four up before half-time and we know we should be scoring more.’
‘It got slack, losing it in midfield, silly passes and letting them break. It’s a trait of young footballers I think, thinking it’s easy.
‘I tried to highlight that at half-time, you’re all top players but top teams do it for 90 minutes, not 30.
‘It’s great we can have a lesson like while still getting a win.’
As the ball pinballed in the six-yard box, Dion Sanderson was unlucky enough to go down as the scorer of Sunderland’s second
Rooney’s side were outclassed by a Black Cats team that streaked ahead in the second-half
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Mail Online
