The Match
Sunderland are through to the Championship play-off final after Dan Ballard headed a 122nd-minute winner against Coventry City in the second leg of their semi-final at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday 13 May, Sky Sports reported.
Sunderland carried a 2-1 lead from the first leg at Coventry into the home return, and the second leg finished 1-1 after extra time, sending them through 3-2 on aggregate.
Ephron Mason-Clark levelled the tie on 76 minutes, meeting Milan van Ewijk’s cross and finishing low into the bottom corner. Haji Wright then missed a clear chance late in normal time, and the match went to extra time. With penalties looming, Ballard met Enzo Le Fee’s corner in the 122nd minute and headed in off the underside of the crossbar, according to Sky Sports.
The attendance at the Stadium of Light was 46,530, Sky Sports reported.
What It Means
Sunderland will face Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday 24 May, with promotion to the Premier League at stake. Sheffield United reached the final by beating Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate in the other semi-final, Sky Sports reported.
Ballard on the Moment
Ballard had not started a game since February and did not expect to start the first leg, according to the Sunderland Echo.
“It’s what dreams are made of, really. The fans today were absolutely incredible. It was just feeling like it wasn’t going to be our day,” he said.
He described the header: “I got up too early [for the header]. I was so determined, and I can’t remember what happened. It just happened like that.”
He said the goal came from a move he had seen before: “I was thinking, you know Didier Drogba in the Champions League final? That’s what I had in my head. A little run to the near post and it was a great ball in. I’ve jumped far too high, too early, was so keen! I stooped down, don’t know how it went in, I just heard the noise. Pandemonium.”
“That was the craziest moment of my life and hopefully many of these Sunderland fans’ lives,” he said.
Enzo Le Fee took the corner, Liam Kitching marked Ballard, and Ben Wilson was in goal for Coventry, according to the Sunderland Echo and ChronicleLive.
The Two Managers
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris said his side had been ready for penalties. “We were on a list of who will [take a penalty]. But this final corner kick was absolutely fantastic for Ballard. The players deserve this and we’ll have a fantastic final to play now,” he said.
Le Bris said Ballard’s physicality had been important to the side: “[Ballard] is a strong man in the back line because we have other type of footballers and his physicality is very important for us and if he can score like that, it’s fantastic.”
“On Thursday we’ll switch on for the final, sure. So now it’s a question of just enjoying, recovering, and we’ll switch on for the final very quickly,” he said.
Coventry manager Frank Lampard offered congratulations and praise for his players. “Firstly, congratulations to Sunderland. But I’ve got immense pride in my players, over the two games, we dominated at home and dominated huge periods of this game,” he said.
In his view, Coventry had been the better team across the tie. “We’re not bitter, but we were the better team over the two football matches. That’s absolutely clear.”
Lampard also praised Ballard. “He was fantastic… He was their man-of-the-match over the two games for sure,” he said.
He noted that Coventry had been 17th in the league in December, Sky Sports and the Sunderland Echo reported.
Both managers gave their post-match assessments to Sky Sports and the Sunderland Echo.
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Sources: Sky Sports, https://www.skysports.com/football/sunderland-vs-coventry-city/report/529460; Sunderland Echo, https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/dan-ballard-sunderland-coventry-city-sheffield-united-play-offs-5128289; ChronicleLive, https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/dan-ballards-brilliant-six-word-31636544
Photo: Arne Mu00f6seler, derivative by Blackcat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative: the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, seen from the air. The photograph is not from the play-off semi-final or any match described in the article.
