Jobe Bellingham scored against boyhood club Birmingham City on Saturday, helping new side Sunderland to a 3-1 victory over Wayne Rooney's struggling Blues.
Born in Stourbridge on the outskirts of Birmingham, Bellingham followed the footsteps of older brother and Real Madrid talisman Jude in rising through the ranks of the Blues academy. The younger sibling by two years, Jobe made his senior debut aged 16 years and 107 days, becoming the club's second youngest debutant. You can guess the youngest.
He signed a professional contract to take effect on his 17th birthday, and made his first Championship start in November 2022. He then joined the Black Cats in summer 2023, reuniting with ex-Birmingham academy staff Kristjaan Speakman, Mike Dodds and Stuart English.
Having been a regular for Sunderland so far this season, scoring three times from 16 appearances, the 18-year-old faced his former club for the first time since leaving. His impact was keenly felt, opening the scoring in the 17th minute by turning home at close range on the end of Nazariy Rusyn's flick-on.
Birmingham pulled level 13 minutes later through Koji Miyoshi but a Dion Sanderson own goal and Adil Aouchiche’s 76th-minute effort ensured the Black Cats finished as victors.
The win leaves Sunderland sitting sixth in the Championship and compounded Rooney's struggles since taking over in early October.
"Well worked from Sunderland" 🌠Sunderland score from the set piece, Sunderland 1-0 Birmingham City pic.twitter.com/fypbse6czGNovember 11, 2023
The Blues sit 16th at the time of writing and have taken just a single point from five games under the former Manchester United forward. It’s a stark contrast with the 18 points from 11 games under manager John Eustace at the start of 2023/24.
Rooney called the Sunderland clash "a good performance" but said that concentration and game management cost his side. "We have a four-month block [of games] after this international break," he said.
"So the players will have a schedule to work to build on their fitness and help us pick up points. We’ve had a really difficult run of games, which you'd expect in the Championship, but I’m seeing really big improvements in the team. We need to start turning performances into results."
The Blues next faced bottom-place Sheffield Wednesday, with Sunderland taking on Plymouth Argyle.
More Bellingham stories
Jude Bellingham picked up a shoulder injury as Real Madrid were held by Rayo Vallecano in LaLiga last weekend.
Meanwhile, it has been claimed that Jude Bellingham rejected Manchester United because the Red Devils were unable to guarantee him first-team football at Old Trafford.
And following his heroics in El Clasico for Real Madrid recently, Bellingham has been compared to Los Blancos legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
