Luton Town boss Rob Edwards was left to rue an ‘amazing’ Amad Diallo goal as Sunderland came from behind to seal a 2-1 win in the Championship play-off semi-final first-leg on Saturday afternoon.
Alex Pritchard, laying the ball off for Diallo to curl home a trademark finish from 25 yards, must have felt almost like a cheeky schoolkid who contributed little more than the choice of font to a group presentation and still came out with an ‘A’ to his name.
Pritchard’s two-yard pass may have earned him an assist, but all the headlines belonged to Sunderland’s magical Manchester United loanee.
Amad Diallo’s 14th goal of a sublime season was arguably his best as well. Certainly his most important. No wonder the Sunderland supporters have taken the little winger to their heart; Diallo’s sumptous left foot almost – almost – making all those years of pain and hurt worth it on the banks of the Wear.
Sunderland dreaming of successive promotions
“The goals they’ve scored came from an amazing free kick and a short corner,” Edw ards sighs, his Luton side going from 1-0 up to 2-1 down thanks to Diallo’s moment of brilliance and a thumping Trai Hume header (Luton Today).
“We’ve got to be better in those moments, but they’re not cutting us open.”
Sunderland are now just 90 minutes away from a play-off final against either Coventry City or north east neighbours Middlesbrough. After so many years of Wembley heartbreak, Tony Mowbray’s side could potentially triumph twice in the space of 12 months at the national stadium, successive promotions taking Sunderland from the depths of League One to the promised land of the Premier League.
“Amad, he’s a magician with his left peg. He’s scored many goals like that this season so it’s no surprise to anybody. It was a great goal,” Mowbray says, his Sunderland side travelling to the Kenilworth Road for the second leg on Tuesday night.
“Nobody is getting carried away. We know how tough it is at Luton. They flood your box. They’ve got lots of big players, and you’ve got to try and deny them set plays and corners.
“(Luton) showed they’re a good football team. They moved the ball around well, and they’ve got some very athletic players and some talented individuals. We have to get ready and start feeling as if it’s 0-0. Go to Luton and try and get a positive result.”
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