Sunderland are already a Premier League football club, Coventry City play-off clash proved it

Add as preferred source on Google

The Championship play-off semi-final second leg between Sunderland and Coventry was further proof that it’s the greatest sporting competition on Earth, and also proved that Sunderland are absolutely massive.

Sunderland took a 2-1 lead into the second leg after a late triumph at the CBS Arena last week, but Coventry City fought back at the Stadium of Light to spoil the party and send the tie to extra-time.

In that final 30 minutes of play, the Black Cats took control of the game, and with penalties looming, a fantastic header from Dan Ballard struck the underside of the bar before nestling in the back of the net.

The goal secured the win for Regis Le Bris’ side and sets up a Championship play-off final date with Sheffield United at Wembley on May 24.

Now, the Premier League is within touching distance for Sunderland after eight seasons away from the top flight. But, the truth is, they’re already a Premier League club; they’re just in the wrong division, and last night proved it.

• READ MORE: Frank Lampard struggles to hold back emotions after Coventry City’s heartbreaking play-off defeat

The Stadium of Light was a cauldron ahead of Championship play-off clash

Before the game even kicked off, both the supporters and the club itself did an astounding job of setting the tone of the evening.

Outside the Stadium of Light, as the player coaches arrived, Sunderland supporters flocked to greet their heroes. Equipped with flares and lungs full of song, the air was filled with red smoke and emphatic anthems.

It was enough to get even the most unbiased neutral excited, never mind the Sunderland faithful. As for Coventry City, they could not have imagined such an imposing welcome to the intense cauldron that would host the night’s action.

Inside the ground, Sunderland pulled out all the stops, erecting a huge tifo in the home end featuring the iconic black cat and the message “‘Til the End.” Inspiring for the home players, and enough to strike fear into the visiting Coventry players.

It’s rare, in this more sanitised era of football, to see clubs in England rise to the occasion quite to this standard. But Sunderland don’t do things in half measures, and it set the tone perfectly for the events to unfold.

• READ MORE: Regis Le Bris makes surprising admission about Sunderland’s play-off win against Coventry City

Dan Ballard’s goal caused incredible limbs among Sunderland fans

Even ignoring the magnitude of the game, it was still a thrilling encounter between two teams that possess a lot of quality, and two managers looking to tactically outclass one another.

Ephron Mason-Clark’s goal on 76 minutes left the tie perfectly poised heading into extra-time, and try as they might, Sunderland just couldn’t seem to get the ball in the back of the net in the added 30 minutes.

Then, with one minute and 59 seconds of the allotted two minutes of injury time already played, Enzo Le Fee sent a corner into the box and the ‘immense’ Dan Ballard rose to head home in an extraordinary show of technique.

Suffice to say, the Stadium of Light crowd absolutely erupted as they celebrated the goal that sent them on the path to Wembley.

The scenes among the Sunderland supporters there is unlike anything we’ve seen in the EFL for a very, very long time. The term ‘limbs’ is thrown around far too often these days, but it could not be better-placed than to describe the chaos and jubilation in the home end.

It was more like the kind of atmosphere you’d find in the fiery derby clashes between River Plate and Boca Juniors at La Bombonera or in the heated San Siro arena for the Milan derby.

Incredibly, this was a Tuesday night in the North East of England. But that’s what Sunderland are all about. The entire city bleeds red and white, football is their religion, and the Stadium of Light is their place of worship.

• READ MORE: Sunderland and EFL fans blown away by Eliezer Mayenda, he is ‘Spain’s future number nine’

A record attendance and a phenomenal post-match party

Sunderland and Coventry made EFL history over the course of these two legs, with a combined attendance of 77,823 at the CBS Arena and the Stadium of Light.

Credit to Coventry for that (31,293 turned up in the first leg), but it was a sell-out 46,530 crowd in the North East that sealed the record.

Naturally, a lot of the Sky Blue section disappeared after that heartbreaking Dan Ballard goal. The players probably wished they could, too, but Luke O’Nien’s show of class helped matters in that regard, consoling his opponents at the end.

Sunderland players were in no rush to move along, though. They embraced supporters, soaked in the atmosphere, and joined a chorus of ‘Wise Men Say’ with the Stadium of Light attendees (see below).

That huge crowd and the electric atmosphere throughout just prove what we already knew: Sunderland are a Premier League club in disguise as a Championship outfit.

They’ve had by far the biggest attendances all season and the culture of football in that city is simply immense. Add to that the quality the Black Cats have in their squad right now, and the intriguing Regis Le Bris at the helm, and you’ve got a football club that any neutral would love to see back in the top flight.

Sunderland have been absent from the Premier League since their rock-bottom 20th-placed finish in 2016/17. That then led to back-to-back relegations and a drop to League One.

But, they’re back on track now, and we are surely set to be treated to one of the best play-off finals ever in ten days’ time. The sheer doggedness and drive of Sheffield United will come up against the passion and dynamism of Sunderland, and we can’t wait to see it play out.

We have to stay neutral, of course, but after the scenes at the Stadium of Light, it’s hard not to wish for that kind of spirit to be given the chance to shine in the Premier League.