Sport

Keane looks to have found a striking partnership

Sunderland 2 Birmingham City 0 Sunderland might just have discovered the strike partnership to keep them in the Premiership

David Hopps at the Stadium of Light
Wed Jan 30 2008 - 00:00

Sunderland 2 Birmingham City 0Sunderland might just have discovered the strike partnership to keep them in the Premiership. To add to the silky talents of Kenwyne Jones, extolled by his manager Roy Keane as the best striker in the league this season, last night they unveiled Rada Prica. He was an instant hit as Sunderland moved out of the bottom three.

Prica announced his arrival in English football by praising it for its rough and tumble. He then came on as a second-half substitute and scored Sunderland's second, stealing on to Liam Ridgwell's headed backpass. He might have had a hat-trick and has what is best described as appetite. Keane will relish him. This looks €2.7million well spent.

There was also an off-field contest going on and Birmingham looked certain to win that. They are on the verge of signing Gary Cahill, the Aston Villa central defender, for around €6.7million, a player also courted by Sunderland and, most assiduously, Bolton.

Phil Bardsley, on his debut from Manchester United, had a modest role to play as Sunderland took a 15th-minute lead. It was his free-kick from the right that was athletically won in the air by Kenwyne Jones, allowing Daryl Murphy to half-volley past Maik Taylor from six yards for his second goal of the season.

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Dwight Yorke's most eye-catching moment had been to knock his own team-mate, Dean Whitehead, out cold, and Keane replaced him at half-time by another Sunderland acquisition, this time from the Danish club Aalborg; Prica had drawn attention to himself even before taking the pitch with his comment: "Football is more rough here, like it should be played. I know that it hurts to play against me."

The Swedish international then made his mark in the way Keane calculates he will, with his first goal for the club only 20 minutes after coming on. It was an excellent poacher's goal. Ridgewell's header back to his goalkeeper, Taylor, was strong enough to beat the forward closest to him, Jones, but Prica appeared to his right and squeezed the ball adroitly in at Taylor's right-hand post.

SUNDERLAND: Gordon, Bardsley, Nosworthy, Evans, Collins, Whitehead, Miller, Yorke (Prica 46), Murphy, Stokes (O'Donovan 63), Jones. Subs Not Used: Fulop, McShane, Waghorn.Booked: Prica.

BIRMINGHAM: Maik Taylor, Kelly, Ridgewell, Schmitz, Queudrue, Larsson (Forssell 66), Johnson, Muamba, Kapo, Jerome (Zarate 66), McFadden. Subs Not Used: Doyle, O'Connor, Parnaby. Booked: Kapo, Schmitz, Ridgewell.

Referee: M Halsey (Lancashire).