Sunderland snatch promotion to Premier League by beating Sheffield United in playoff final

In the fifth of at least seven stoppage-time minutes, a few seconds that will for ever be frozen in the archives: Luke O’Nien, his right arm cradled in a sling after dislocating his shoulder seconds into this contest, racing down the touchline, punching the air with his left to celebrate Tommy Watson’s stoppage-time winner.

It was the moment that catapulted Sunderland back into the Premier League after eight years away and one that will live long in the memory for Watson, a 73rd-minute substitute, and the supporters who, of course, came in their droves. Half of this arena rejoiced, a seesawing contest over after 102 minutes. Sunderland are back in the big time, the Tyne-Wear derby back on the menu. For Sheffield United, the playoff agony goes on, this their 10th campaign to end in tears.

It was a special episode for Watson, his third goal and probably his final contribution to the club he joined at under-nine level, and certainly his last before joining Brighton in a £10m deal in the summer. For that reason it is impossible to class the 19-year-old forward, who hails from Horden, down the A19 in County Durham, as an unknown, yet his name was absent on the back of the official programme.

It will not be forgotten on Wearside any time soon. Nor will the precise moment he seized on a clunky touch by Kieffer Moore. Watson assumed the loose ball midway inside the Sheffield United half, took a couple of touches to push it out of his feet and then took aim, using the giant frame of Vinícius Souza as a mannequin as he caressed a right-foot shot low into the bottom corner of goal.

View image in fullscreen Luke O’Nien celebrates with his right arm in a sling. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters

Watson ripped off his shirt, O’Nien made tracks as the rest of the substitutes’ bench emptied towards the now delirious Sunderland end and that curve of supporters in the stands, who again took over Trafalgar Square on the eve of this game, forgot any inhibitions. When the final whistle came and United’s players sank to the turf, it was difficult not to think of Chris Wilder’s pre-match Wembley verdict: “It’s not a place for losers, is it?” Soon afterwards Sunderland’s players, led by the team captain, Dan Neil, were charging up the Wembley steps towards the royal box. There, Neil told O’Nien, the club captain, to flip places so that O’Nien could hold the trophy aloft with his left hand. Régis Le Bris, in a black suit, shook hands with Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, the 28-year-old Sunderland owner wearing a red tie.

Sunderland’s players took it in turns to hoist the silverware overhead. The big screens showed heroes of yesteryear in the stands – Jordan Henderson, Niall Quinn, Kevin Phillips and Peter Reid – and then flipped to the class of 2025, including Jobe Bellingham, who could still emulate his brother, Jude, by departing for Borussia Dortmund this summer. The adrenaline was pumping as the players made their way to the podium. Only 26 minutes earlier they trailed 1-0 to Tyrese Campbell’s superbly taken first-half opener, his 11th goal of the season.

Sunderland’s performance was something of a slow-burner but they ultimately found two big moments. The first came courtesy of Eliezer Mayenda, who equalised with their second shot on goal, and the first with any conviction. Until then United had looked relatively comfortable but it was impossible to avoid the sense that Gus Hamer’s departure on 72 minutes was significant if not gamechanging. Hamer teed up Campbell’s strike with a superb run on the counter, delivering the killer pass after slipping the ball through the legs of Neil, but was replaced after struggling with cramp. It was a near identical story two years ago, when Hamer, then of Coventry, was forced off late against Luton.

United will ruminate on a couple of moments, for some of which they were powerless. Take Nathan Patterson’s plunging save to keep out Moore’s header after 62 seconds. O’Nien’s efforts to jolt Moore culminated in him being carried off on a stretcher. He walked down the tunnel with the help of medical staff and oxygen and, unable to move his right arm, he revved up the fans with his left. “I covered more distance celebrating the goals that I did on the field,” O’Nien said afterwards.

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View image in fullscreen Eliezer Mayenda celebrates scoring the equaliser for Sunderland. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Then there was Harrison Burrows’s sweet first-time volley, disallowed after a VAR review. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, confirmed in a muffled message over the speakers that the goal was ruled out because an offside Souza was deemed to be in Patterson’s eyeline. There were a couple more nearly moments at 1-0. Seven minutes before Mayenda levelled, Dan Ballard, with his back to goal, spread himself to make a crucial, potentially goal-saving block to deny Andre Brooks on the rebound, after the substitute forced Patterson into a stop with his left boot.

A typically youthful Sunderland – with an average age of 24.3 they consistently fielded the youngest team in the Championship – would not lay down. Patrick Roberts, who replaced the 17-year-old Chris Rigg, another homegrown star, threaded in Mayenda, who wriggled the ball out of his feet with his first touch and then blasted into the top corner with his second. O’Nien, of course, was first on the scene to greet him, roaring in delight. Even the polished Le Bris let himself go a little. There was plenty more where that came from. “I think the story was written when I came off the bench,” said Watson. “Just look around, it’s fucki ... it’s unbelievable.”

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