All you need to know about Sunderland Under-21's pathway to the Premier League 2 Play-off final. Graeme Murty’s side have delivered three fantastic performances to reach Sunday’s fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Sunderland 4-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Despite a dominant first half, Sunderland fell behind when Nathan Collins pounced on a mix-up in the Black Cats’ defence to put the visitors ahead on the stroke of halftime. The hosts returned after the interval in fine form and equalised through Ben Middlemas after some neat footwork by Caden Kelly. Three goals in the final 15 minutes sealed a comfortable last-16 victory. Firstly, Trey Ogunsuyi put the Lads ahead following an excellent team move. Tommy Watson added a third after advancing past his man before firing home and substitute Timur Tutierov got on the end of Watson’s pullback to round off the win with a simple tap-in.
Sunderland 3-3 West Ham United – AET – 5-3 win on penalties
Gideon Kodua's close-range strike put the Hammers ahead five minutes before half time. Captain Ellis Taylor levelled inside the final 10 minutes, controlling the ball before drilling his strike into the roof of the visitors’ net. The match entered extra time, and the away side retook the lead through Patrick Kelly before missing a penalty minutes later. Caden Kelly went up the opposite end and exquisitely levelled the tie with a bending effort before Marshall put West Ham back in front for a third time. Sunderland never give up, and Watson’s 119th-minute last-gasp back post-tap-in took the Black Cats to penalties. Taylor, Jones, Caden Kelly, Middlemas, and Watson dispatched their spot-kicks alongside an Adam Richardson save to book their place in the semi-finals.
Reading 3-4 Sunderland – Extra Time
A splendid Taylor bending effort put Sunderland ahead, Jayden Wareham levelled half way through the first half, before Taylor added his second with another outstanding strike from the edge of the box. Two goals in the space of five second-half minutes from Adrian Akande and Matty Carson put the Royals ahead before a drilled finish from Taylor inside the host’s 18-yard box put the Black Cats on level terms with seconds of normal time remaining. After an end-to-end extra 30 minutes, Ogunsuyi controlled Caden Kelly’s free-kick before thundering his attempt past Coniah Boyce-Clarke with the last kick of the game to confirm Sunderland’s spot in the final.
Next-up... Tottenham Hotspur in the final.