Sunderland win 'richest game in football' to secure promotion to Premier League

Watson scored the winner for the Black Cats.

The EFL Championship 2024-25 season has been nothing less than a thrilling spectacle as two teams finished at the top of the points table after Leeds United and Burnley both scored a century of points. The fight for the third and the final coveted spot for the English top flight has been far more entertaining and nothing less than a mouth-watering clash.

The Wembley Stadium, also popularly referred to as the Cathedral of Football, hosted the EFL Championship Promotion Playoff final encounter between Sheffield United and AFC Sunderland. Sheffield ended the league campaign on a positive note after accumulating 90 points and finishing third in the table.

They were drawn alongside sixth-placed Bristol City in the semi-finals. Not only did the Blades win the encounter, but they also netted six goals across 180 minutes to show the Robins the exit doors.

AFC Sunderland, who kick-started the campaign on a positive note, found themselves going through a series of inconsistent performances that saw them settle for a fourth spot. Their route to Wembley, unlike their opponents, was not an easy one. Despite taking a slender lead against Coventry in the first leg, Mason-Clark’s strike in the 76th minute levelled the scores.

The match was inching closer to the penalties before Ballard scored the winner in the stoppage time of extra time to propel the Black Cats into the finals. So what went down in the finals?

Sheffield drew the first blood after Campbell scored

The match began with both sets of fans jamming Wembley with the hope of seeing the English top flight returning to either Bramall Lane or the Stadium of Light. Le Bris faced an early shock when he had to make an early forced substitution after Luke O’Niell got injured within the first ten minutes. The Blades tried to mount the pressure, and their efforts paid off.

Sunderland’s rush to take a quick corner turned badly against their favour as the Blades made a swift counterattack. The Dutchman Tyrese Campbell broke the deadlock in the 25th minute to hand over an early advantage to Chris Wilder’s side.

VAR used for only tonight’s game ruled out Sheffield’s second goal

Sheffield tried not to hold back and continued their attacking prowess. Another corner saw Harrison Burrows finding the back of the net and starting his early celebration until the referee pointed towards a VAR check. The technology used solely for tonight’s game saw the goal being ruled out, keeping alive Sunderland’s hopes of a comeback.

The first half came to a halt. Sunderland hardly had any real chance to score the equaliser. Their rhythm broke after seeing their primary centre back leaving the pitch early on. They needed to put on a valiant show to grab the equaliser in the second half.

The Black Cats scripted a historic comeback to make it to the Premier League

Just when it seemed that Sheffield were just 15 minutes away from securing promotion into the English top flight, Mayenda did not miss the golden opportunity to equalise. His strike found the back of the top corner to level things.

The Black Cats made it to the English top flight as the saga of Sunderland scoring last-minute thrillers is never-ending. Tom Watson, the teenager’s goals will forever be scripted in golden letters in Sunderland’s history as Le Bris has taken his side to the English Premier League after a long absence.

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