Sunderland clinched their place in the Championship play-off final as Daniel Ballard’s last-gasp extra-time header secured a 3-2 aggregate victory over Coventry City.
The Black Cats took a 2-1 lead back to the Stadium of Light for the second leg, but it was Coventry who were in the ascendancy for the vast majority of the return on Wearside.
They finally broke the deadlock in the 76th-minute as Ephron Mason-Clark gave them a deserved lead, but it was Sunderland’s excellent extra-time resilience that ultimately proved decisive.
Penalties appeared a formality when Enzo Le Fee went over to take a corner on the left in the 122nd minute, yet there was a remarkable twist in the tale as his perfectly placed delivery was met by the head of Ballard to turn the ball in off the bar and send the home crowd into delirium.
Sunderland will now face Sheffield United in the play-off final at Wembley on May 24 as they look to return to the Premier League following eight seasons away.
WE’RE GOING TO WEMBLEY!! 😍#TilTheEnd pic.twitter.com/QqrEljjqsG
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) May 13, 2025
Sunderland v Coventry City
Coventry dictated the first half but were guilty of a lack of cutting edge in the final third, with Jack Rudoni and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto both turning over from close range with the best opportunities of the opening period for the visitors.
Instead, Eliezer Mayenda, scorer of Sunderland’s winner in the first leg, was the only player to seriously threaten either goalkeeper, surging into the box in the 22nd minute and forcing Ben Wilson to repel his stinging drive.
Despite Coventry’s dominance of possession, Wilson needed to be called into action again in the 67th minute to keep his side only one goal behind in the tie, a smart save ensuring Trai Hume did not find the net with a well-executed volley.
But it was Hume who Mason-Clark managed to get across to meet Milan van Ewijk’s superb right-wing cross with a clever finish into the bottom-right corner as Coventry’s pressure finally told.
It was the visitors who continued to look the more likely to settle the tie in regulation, and they would have done so in the dying seconds of stoppage time had Haji Wright not set his header from Sakamoto’s right-wing cross hopelessly wide with the goal at his mercy.
The same pattern of play was maintained for much of the first half of extra time, but Sunderland found some life late in those opening 15 minutes.
An outstanding block from Josh Eccles, who later limped off injured, prevented impressive substitute Romaine Mundle from restoring Sunderland’s aggregate advantage and, it appeared the chance to settle the tie in extra time had gone.
However, one final corner gave Sunderland the opportunity to write an incredible chapter in their history, and Ballard snatched it with a stooping header that left Wilson with no chance to put Le Bris’ men one win away from ending the club’s top-flight absence.
