Sunderland shackle Portsmouth to reach League One playoff final

Sunderland shackle Portsmouth to reach League One playoff final
Soccer Football - League One Play-Off Semi Final Second Leg - Portsmouth v Sunderland- Fratton Park, Portsmouth, Britain - May 16, 2019 Portsmouth's Tom Naylor in action with Sunderland's George Honeyman Action Images/John SIbley Copyright JOHN SIBLEY(Reuters)
By Reuters
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

(Reuters) - Sunderland maintained their hopes of climbing back up English football's pyramid by booking a place in the League One playoff final after holding out for a 0-0 draw at Portsmouth on Thursday to seal a 1-0 aggregate victory.

Sunderland, who were in the Premier League two years ago, showed little attacking ambition and had to rely on three vital saves from goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin to see them through to the final while hosts Portsmouth also hit the bar.

The north-east club, who have been English champions six times, will face either Charlton Athletic or Doncaster Rovers in the final at Wembley on May 26 for the right to be promoted to the Championship, England's second tier.

Sunderland spent 10 consecutive seasons in the Premier League before going down in 2017 and were then relegated to the third tier of English football, with their turbulent year being famously captured in a Netflix documentary series.

(Reporting by Richard Martin; editing by Ken Ferris)

Share this articleComments

You might also like

UEFA Champions League draw: Real Madrid face Chelsea in quarter-finals

Want to find out which city is best for running? Here’s the world’s top 10 cities

England's stunning 8-0 win over Norway in women's European Championship