The Championship play-off final will be played between Sheffield United and Sunderland, the third and fourth finishing sides in the second tier, but the two finalists took very different routes.
While Sheffield United battered Bristol City to reach the final it took Sunderland 123 minutes of their second leg against Coventry to proceed, as centre back Daniel Ballard powered home a header to send the fans at the Stadium of Light wild.
In my SBOTOP preview of the Championship promotion race I said I expected the Blades to keep on scrapping out the narrow wins, but their luck ran out and they ended up a distant third to the stand-out teams, Leeds United and Burnley. But Chris Wilders’ battlers piled through the first hurdle of the play-offs, winning their tie against sixth placed Bristol City by the biggest margin in history…6-0 on aggregate.
The Robins can be forgiven for having a moan at the officials, because the tie was effectively over after the first leg, which the Blades won 3-0 down at Ashton Gate. Sheffield’s first leg win was mired in controversy as a huge decision went in their favour after Bristol had played a good first half. Defender Rob Dickie clashed with the Blades’ target man Kieffer Moore, and Dickie was sent off as the ref also awarded a penalty which Harrison Burrows converted.
The Blades went on to win 3-0 against the ten men and Bristol manager Liam Manning was incandescent with rage, saying: “It’s quite clear what changed the game. It’ a disgrace. We even called Kevin Friend (at PGMOL) to raise our concerns (about the referee, Oliver Langford). We had him at Oxford and he got a decision wrong. When Luton played Coventry he got another decision wrong.
“You just know it’s going to happen and that’s the frustration. Rob makes a clear attempt to play the ball. Worst case, he gives a penalty.”
Manning has a point as, even if it was a foul, the double jeopardy of dishing out a red card as well all but ended the tie.
The Robins were clearly broken when they headed to Bramall Lane with a three goal deficit to make up and goals from Kieffer Moore, Gustavo Hamer and Callum O’Hare gave the Blades another 3-0 win; and now the Yorkshire side heads to Wembley to play the most valuable game in football.
Sunderland, who finished the campaign in fourth place, went into their second leg against Coventry with a one goal advantage after taking a 2-1 lead away from the Coventry City Building Society Arena last week. It was an action packed first leg as striker Wilson Isidor put the Black Cats ahead before Jack Rudoni levelled for Coventry. But a woeful defensive mistake put Sunderland in the driving seat as they returned to their Stadium of Light. Coventry defender Milan van Ewijk hit a back pass without looking behind him and Sunderland’s forward Eliezer Mayenda sneaked in to score the winner, with just two minutes left on the clock.
Coventry manager Frank Lampard was positive after the first leg, saying: “It was a good performance from the team. We pushed and pushed, and dominated possession of the ball. We are unfortunate to be one behind going into the second leg.” Certainly Coventry came into the play-offs as the team in form and the arrival of Lampard in November turned the club’s fortunes around. Coventry’s Championship 2025 results were far better that their 2024 output and they climbed away from the lower reaches of the Championship up into the top six.
The Midlanders went for it in the second leg and Rudoni came close in a first half dominated by Lampard’s men and that trend continued in the second period as Sunderland held on for dear life. But with fingernails bitten to the bone the visitors struck with just 14 minutes remaining as Van Ewijk redeemed himself by sending over a cross which Ephron Mason-Clark met with a sweet connection which flew into the net, and that goal took the tie into extra time.
And Sunderland suddenly came to life, fighting for every ball, but the tie looked like it was going to penalties until Ballard met an injury time corner to head home his priceless winner.
The gap between the billionaires of the Premier League and the hopefuls of the Championship is wider than ever as the rapid return of Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton proves. But the three promoted teams will believe they can compete, particularly as it seems half the Premier league will have European commitments next season.
The Championship 2025 betting odds had the Blades as a top three side for most of the campaign so maybe they deserve to win promotion. But on 24th May they will meet Sunderland in a winner takes all clash. Sheffield United have never been promoted through the play-offs in eight attempts, five of them from the Championship… so their fans will, understandably, be extremely nervous.
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