CNN
—
Sunderland secured promotion to the Premier League on Saturday after defeating Sheffield United 2-1 with an extraordinary injury-time winner in the “most valuable match” in soccer, as the Championship play-off final is known.
For much of the game, Sunderland was trailing 1-0 after Sheffield United took the lead early on through a sweeping counterattacking move finished off by Tyrese Campbell.
But the Blades spurned several chances to put the game beyond Sunderland’s reach and the Black Cats equalized in the 76th minute as Eliezer Mayenda rifled the ball into the net.
And 19-year-old Tom Watson completed Sunderland’s unlikely comeback deep into injury-time, propelling one of English soccer’s most historic clubs back into the Premier League for the first time since 2017 and sending its fans inside Wembley Stadium into delirium.
Since that relegation in 2017, the Black Cats even suffered a four-season-long stint in League One, an ignominy depicted in the popular Netflix show “Sunderland ‘Til I Die.”
They eventually won promotion back to the Championship in 2022 and will now join Leeds United and Burnley in securing promotion back to the Premier League this season.
“I think my celebration says it all,” Watson, who is leaving Sunderland to join Brighton, told broadcaster Sky Sports. “Just look around, it’s unbelievable. We’ll see each other in the Premier League next year.
“I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. My story was written when I came off the bench. I couldn’t have pictured it any better.”
Sunderland was on the back foot from the very start of the game – in the opening two minutes, its club captain Luke O’Nien was forced off with a shoulder injury as he tried to defend against Kieffer Moore’s header. The Black Cats’ only consolation as O’Nien walked off the pitch was that some brilliant goalkeeping from Anthony Patterson prevented Sheffield United from taking the lead.
But in the 25th minute, the Blades went ahead when Gustavo Hamer poached the ball from a wayward Sunderland corner, scampered upfield and found Campbell who chipped the ball into the net.
With the chance to play in the Premier League the prize on offer, the celebrations after every goal were fraught with emotion and, in this instance, Campbell was buried under a pile of Sheffield United players.
Just 10 minutes later the Blades thought they’d doubled their lead when Harrison Burrows found the back of the net after Sunderland’s defense cleared a corner only as far as the edge of the box. However, the goal was disallowed after a Video Assistant Referee check determined Vini Souza was in an offside position.
And the Blades were left to rue that miss opportunity, as well as another in the 69th minute when Patterson once again stopped a near-certain goal.
The momentum was beginning to turn and seven minutes later Sunderland strung a series of passes together that scythed through the Sheffield United midfield, allowing Mayenda to find the back of the net.
O’Nien, his arm in a sling, joined his teammates in celebrating, later telling Sky Sports he “covered more distance” celebrating his team’s two goals than he did playing.
The Black Cats kept pressing and, in the 95th minute, they had their reward when Watson pounced on a loose pass and sent the ball into the net for the late winner, ensuring that Sunderland became the first team in 29 years to win a Championship play-off final after trailing at halftime.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
