Eliezer Mayenda scored a late winner as Sunderland beat Frank Lampard’s Coventry 2-1 in the first leg of their English Championship playoff semi-final on Friday.
Despite finishing seven points ahead of their opponents, Sunderland’s form nosedived toward the end of the regular season, with five successive defeats and just one goal in a six-game winless streak.
However, after defending resolutely against a side they had lost 3-0 to in March, Sunderland were clinical on the counter-attack, and Mayenda’s 88th-minute goal gave the Black Cats a potentially crucial advantage.
Photo: AP
Wilson Isidor had put Sunderland ahead midway through the second half, but their opponents were level within 110 seconds thanks to Jack Rudoni.
Coventry would need to pick themselves up for Tuesday’s second leg at the Stadium of Light as they bid for a second playoff final in three years.
The visitors opened the scoring when French forward Isidor ghosted into space and latched on to Enzo Le Fee’s ball behind the Coventry defense before racing unchallenged into the area and firing across a helpless Ben Wilson.
However, Sunderland conceded within two minutes of going ahead.
Milan van Ewijk raced to the byline and directed a cross for an unmarked Rudoni to head home.
The hosts pushed forward at every opportunity, but Sunderland showed they were not settling for a draw as Patrick Roberts curled narrowly wide before Mayenda struck.
The 20-year-old took advantage of a wayward pass back from Van Ewijk to get to the ball first, round Wilson, who had hared out of his area, and coolly dispatched it into an empty net.
“It’s just halftime,” Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris told Sky Sports. “I think we showed today that we were in our plan. We were fresh, we were connected and had all of our players available.
“We knew it’d be tough because Coventry are good and the second leg will be tight,” he said.
On Thursday, Sheffield United moved to within touching distance of a place in the Championship playoff final after beating Bristol City 3-0.
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS