Promotion Play-offs: Sunderland 1 - 1 Coventry City

[dutchman]

Ballard's 122nd-minute goal sends Sunderland to final



Sunderland reached the Championship play-off final after Dan Ballard's last-gasp goal in extra time decided their semi-final tie against Coventry City.

Ballard headed in off the underside of the bar in the final seconds of stoppage time to level the match at 1-1 on the night and secure a 3-2 aggregate victory over the Sky Blues.

It was an incredible end to an evening filled with tension at the Stadium of Light after Ephron Mason-Clark had scored in the 76th minute to take the match to extra time.

The Black Cats will now face Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday, 24 May to decide who plays in the Premier League next season.

In a meeting between the sides who finished fourth and fifth in the regular season, the Wearside club will have the chance to end an eight-year exile from the top flight.

But the Sky Blues will rue a chance which USA forward Haji Wright headed wide in regulation stoppage time that would have booked their spot in the final.

While the Blades had cruised through to Wembley on Monday as they swept aside Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate, this tie always felt in the balance.

Play-off games rarely need extra spice, but this was given it by the Black Cats' decision to bring their advertising hoardings along the sidelines noticeably closer to the pitch.

By doing so, it was a deliberate attempt to negate the Sky Blues' tactic of using the long throws of Dutch right-back Milan van Ewijk to create danger.

His costly mistake in allowing Eliezer Mayenda to grab a late winner to make it 2-1 to Sunderland in the first leg had left him in tears, but looking for inspiration to mount a famous comeback, Coventry could turn to head coach Frank Lampard.

He was in charge of the last away side to overturn a first-leg deficit when Derby County defeated Leeds United 4-2 at Elland Road in 2019 to win 4-3 on aggregate.

After surviving a bright Sunderland start in which Mayenda forced a good save out of Ben Wilson, Lampard watched his side grow into the game.

But they spurned crucial chances as Tatsuhiro Sakamoto scuffed an attempt over from six yards, before in-form midfielder Jack Rudoni prodded their best opportunity of the first half over from a similar distance.

The Sky Blues continued to have more of the ball in the second half, but Sunderland had come closer to scoring the decisive goal when right-back Trai Hume had his volley well kept out by Wilson.

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris had promised pre-match that his team would not play just to hold the opposition out, but human nature took over as his players dropped deeper.

And they were punished when Van Ewijk overlapped down the right and sent over a cross which had Mason-Clark getting there just before Hume to guide the ball into the bottom corner.

Coventry were on top and almost sealed it but Wright, with the very last touch in normal time, got his header badly wrong from another Sakamoto cross.

The Black Cats were better in extra time and regained some composure and Romaine Mundle was only prevented from scoring by a brilliant block from fellow substitute Josh Eccles.

The match still looked destined to be decided by a penalty shootout, even when they won a corner with the last action of the game.

And from Enzo Le Fee's delivery, Ballard sent the red-and-white hordes into ecstasy with a powerful header as Coventry players slumped to the floor in absolute dejection.

The very essence of play-off football in one instant.