What heart. What fight. What a team.
Yet again, they went until the end.
And what a story – Tommy Watson scoring the winner to send Sunderland back to the Premier League with almost his last touch before joining Brighton.
This was a game where Sunderland had for so long looked to be labouring, saved in the first half from going 2-0 down by a VAR check. In the second half by a brilliant Anthony Patterson save.
They dug in and dug in, and then they began to play.
They pushed Blades back and with their subs flying they took control.They levelled and they kept pushing, and then they won.
The opening exchanges were a trial for Sunderland, one that in truth they did well to survive. They were almost behind inside the first two minutes, a floated cross from Gus Hamer to the back post met well by Kieffer Moore. His header looked destined for the bottom corner, only for Patterson to claw clear impressively. There was a major sting in the tail, however, with Luke O’Nien dislocating his shoulder in a bid to stop Moore. The defender looked in agony and it was clear almost immediately that he was unable to continue.
While Chris Mepham made some strong defensive blocks in the momenta after his arrival, the change disrupted Sunderland’s build-up play and meant that the Blades were able to squeeze them with their press. The Blades looked stronger and more powerful.
The opening goal was particularly chastening because it came just as looked as if Sunderland had found their feet, a lightning break from their own corner. Hamer showed a superb burst of pace to race onto a loose ball, and his pass through the middle to find Campbell was inch perfect. Campbell did the rest, a delicate dink over Patterson.
Sunderland began to dominate possession as the Blades dropped off a touch, but they were happy enough that Sunderland weren’t creating much with Enzo Le Fee mostly a passenger in the ten position. It looked as if the game was all but over when Sheff Utd won their first corner of the game, Ballard meeting the ball but his clearance volleyed in by Harrison Burrows. To the relief of the Black Cats, it was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check when the referee ruled that Vinicius Souza had interfered with play when he dallied in front of Patterson.
Le Bris made a clever tactical switch, moving Ballard over to the left centre-back role where his additional power to drive out with the ball helped Sunderland start to build. They were beginning to push up the pitch and create some move threatening moments, though the scale of their task was underlined by the fact that they reached half time with Michael Cooper not really having made a save.
The early phase of the second half was encouraging, Sunderland starting to find Mundle in more advanced areas where Cirkin could overlap. The Sunderland end was beginning to gain belief as Sunderland dominated possession, though some dangerous attack were unable to yield anything in the way of major chances.
Sunderland were giving it a go but Sheffield United remained a big threat on the break, Patterson having to save well from substitute Brooks when Cirkin got into big trouble defending a long ball.
It would prove to be a costly miss. Le Bris picked his moment perfectly, introducing Isidor and Watson and switching to a 4-4-2. Sunderland broke quickly after landing on a loose ball, Watson breaking infield to find Le Fee. He found Roberts, who had tucked infield and then found Mayenda with an inch-perfect pass. His finish on his weaker right foot was sublime, picking his spot and driving into the roof of the net.
The momentum was now with Sunderland, Le Fee dictating the play and Roberts causing all sorts of problems on the right. His introduction had altered the flow of the game, pushing the Blades back to the edge of their own box. Sunderland’s cause had also clearly been aided by Gus Hamer, so threatening and influential in the first half, limping out of the action with an injury.
Le Bris said ahead of these play-offs that it would be defined by a mistake. And so it proved. With Sunderland pushing high up the pitch the Blades tried to break, Moore instead passing straight into the path of Watson. The rest was all class, nervelessly picking his spot and firing into the bottom corner.
Then they defended and they did it well. They headed clear again and again, and 101 minutes in the final whistle was blow. Luke O’Nien ran onto the pitch, arm in sling. Sunderland are back. A team that just does not know when it’s beaten and a quite brilliant head coach, whose tactical decisions in the second half were nothing short of perfect.
This is where the play-off final was won and lost as Régis Le Bris turns the tide for Sunderland yet again
