Charlton Athletic bounced back from conceding an extraordinary own goal to beat Sunderland 2-1 in the EFL League One playoff final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
The Addicks fell behind after only five minutes when centre-back Naby Sarr’s pacey backpass beat his own goalkeeper Dillon Phillips to give Sunderland a 1-0 lead.
Lee Bowyer’s side grew into the game and soon leveled through Ben Purrington 10 minutes before the break.
The game appeared to be heading for extra-time before Patrick Bauer scrambled home from a corner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Defeat means Sunderland will spend a second season in the third tier of English football and is their second defeat at Wembley in the space of 56 days following their penalty shootout loss to Portsmouth in the Football League Trophy final. In total, the Black Cats have now lost their last seven games at the National Stadium since they won the FA Cup way back in 1973.
It was a game of few clear-cut opportunities but the South London club were deserved winners, particularly after coming back from a disastrous start that saw them gift Sunderland the lead.
Lee Bowyer was only appointed full-time manager last summer in what is his first role as a first team manager. He also achieved it despite off the field protests from fans against owner Roland Duchatalet during the season.
