Blues limp out of cup

22 September 2009 21:47
Jordan Henderson and Fraizer Campbell opened their Sunderland accounts as the Black Cats beat Birmingham 2-0 in the third round of the Carling Cup.[LNB]The 19-year-old midfielder and the £6million striker had the game sewn up within 23 first-half minutes as a much-changed City side offered little resistance in front of a crowd of just 20,576 at the Stadium of Light.[LNB]They might have won even more comfortably had Maik Taylor not denied Kenwyne Jones with his legs, or had defender John Mensah's 57th-minute strike not been chalked off for a foul.[LNB]Sunderland were ahead within four minutes, Henderson sweeping home his first senior goal for the club from Jones' square ball to set the tone for a blitz which the visitors found irresistible.[LNB]It was 2-0 with 23 minutes gone when Campbell, who had already seen a close-range header deflected over by defender Giovanny Espinoza, made amends, beating Taylor to Andy Reid's inviting cross to glance the ball home.[LNB]To their credit, the visitors rallied briefly immediately after the restart, but it did not last, and they might have fallen further behind in a flurry of activity in the 53rd minute. First former Middlesbrough defender Stuart Parnaby had to get in a good block to keep out Reid's driven effort, and then Taylor had to pluck Lorik Cana's curling shot out of his top corner.

Source: Eurosport