Birmingham City 1-3 Derby County: Home side avoid drop despite defeat
- Published
Jude Bellingham (right) was making his last appearance for Birmingham after signing for Borussia Dortmund this week
Borussia Dortmund-bound Jude Bellingham could not inspire his Birmingham City team-mates to end their winless run as they avoided relegation from the Championship despite a 3-1 loss at home to Derby County.
Graeme Shinnie gave the Rams an early lead from the edge of the box before Bellingham, who will leave for Germany in a deal worth up to £30m - hit the bar with a header after half an hour - one of a number of good chances the 17-year-old had before the break.
Ivan Sunjic levelled early in the second half after Wayne Rooney's poor clearance allowed the Croatian midfielder to score.
But a late goal from Morgan Whittaker and a stoppage-time effort from Louie Sibley saw the Rams take all three points.
The result saw Blues, who were not mathematically safe going into the final round of games, end the season 20th in the table, although they could drop another place should Wigan Athletic be successful in overturning their 12-point deduction for going into administration last month.
The result was a 14th game without a win for managerless Blues - their worst winless run since last being relegated from this same level under Barry Fry 26 seasons ago.
Derby, who were the beaten play-off finalists last season, end the campaign in 10th place in Phillip Cocu's first season as a manager, six points off the play-off places.
But the Rams could drop down the table should an independent disciplinary tribunal impose a points deduction if it finds the club breached spending rules following the sale of their stadium to owner Mel Morris.
Rams strike early and late to take points
Having gone ahead early on, Derby suffered a blow when goalkeeper Kelle Roos was forced off after 12 minutes when an accidental clash with Lucas Jutkiewicz's left boot left him groggy.
Replacement Ben Hamer was called into action immediately as he made a smart save after Bellingham controlled Maxime Colin's cross from the right and blasted goalwards from the corner of the six-yard box.
The Bundesliga-bound teenager seemed desperate to end his time at St Andrew's on a high and he thought he had equalised six minutes later, but his header came back off the bar after his initial shot had drifted wide and the ball was recycled back into the box by Kristian Pedersen and Dan Crowley.
The Rams had two excellent chances to double their lead - Jason Knight broke on the right and forced a good save from Lee Camp after 35 minutes, while Martyn Waghorn lifted a shot over the bar when clean through after Sunjic's mistake had allowed Knight to break and feed the Derby forward.
Blues pulled level thanks to Sunjic's left-footed effort, which deflected in off Curtis Davies after former England captain Rooney scuffed his clearance and the ball landed kindly at the feet of the home midfielder.
Both sides created little until the dying moments of the game, and Bellingham's time at St Andrew's - where he has been since he was seven years old - ended with 15 minutes to go as he came off with cramp.
Whittaker got his first Derby goal with three minutes left after Jack Marriott robbed Pedersen out wide and crossed for the youngster, whose first effort was saved before he slotted in the rebound.
His fellow academy academy graduate Sibley sealed the win in stoppage time as he fired left-footed into the top corner from the edge of the box having been set up by Whittaker.
Match reaction
Birmingham midfielder Jude Bellingham told BBC Radio WM:
"It's mixed feelings. From the position that we were in coming into the last nine games we should never have been in this position, so maybe we get a little bit of consolation out of staying up on the last day.
"The club's far bigger than taking it to the last day and relying on other results, that's not Birmingham City, it's becoming way too often but that's not the club.
"I gave everything to try and lift the team, but that wasn't good enough over the last nine games and I know that and we know that as a collective, I just hope the boys can get the right person in and the right management and go on to good things next year."
Derby manager Phillip Cocu told BBC Radio Derby:
"What I think is positive, if I look back at the season, is if we look at the second half of the season and the progress we made as a team.
"That was really positive, not only the youngsters, but as a team how we played.
"That's the direction we have to continue in, there's still room for some improvement in set plays and some away games in the first half of the season where we couldn't get a result, but definite positive aspects and a good end with an away win today."