We Are Halfway Through The Championship Play-Offs: Where Do Things Stand?

Both first legs are complete and there is now just one match remaining before the teams contesting for the final spot in 2025/26 Premier League will be confirmed. Who will head to Wembley for the world’s most expensive match in club football? Read on in this piece as we talk about what happened in the first leg affairs and what we can expect from the return fixtures this upcoming week.

Bristol City 0-3 Sheffield United

1st Leg Review

Sheffield United defeated Bristol City 3-0 in a match that was highlighted by substitutes and controversial refereeing decisions. Bristol City boss Liam Manning was left furious with referee Oliver Langford and later claimed the club had “raised concerns” about the referee taking charge of the first leg, with Langford having given out six red cards in his past 12 games- with four of those in games including Bristol City.

"I think it's a DISGRACE!" 😡

Bristol City head coach Liam Manning was NOT HAPPY with the decision to send Rob Dickie off 😳 pic.twitter.com/fCvwEOlzL3
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 8, 2025

Harrison Burrows scored the subsequent penalty, to put the Blades one-nil up in the tie. This really rubbed salt into the wounds of everyone supporting Bristol City as this happened moments after midfielder Joe Williams had to depart the field following an ankle injury, which will see him out of action on Monday.

The second half saw Andre Brooks and Callum O’Hare feature as oncoming substitutes who both found the back of the net within the 12 minutes which followed to all but secure Sheffield United’s place at Wembley for the Championship Play-off final.

FULL-TIME: Sheffield United will take a 3-0 lead into their play-off second-leg after a dominant performance against Bristol City 🔥⚔️ pic.twitter.com/COZPmV70a3
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 8, 2025

2nd Leg Preview

A comeback of this nature has not been completed in the Championship play-offs before, so Bristol City will require a serious miracle when they travel to Bramall Lane on Monday. A comeback made even more unlikely as Bristol City have failed to score three times in an away game this season- something they have no choice but to do if they are to stand a chance in this tie.

The chore becomes more difficult with the Robins only adding to their injury list heading into the second leg, while Wilder has announced a big injury boost for the Blades, with Femi Seriki, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Ben Brereton Diaz all expected to play a part on Monday. Any goal for Sheffield United will just make the improbable job impossible for Bristol City, so I really do not see any chance of a comeback for Manning and the Robins, as their season looks like it is coming to an end.

Coventry City 1-2 Sunderland

1st Leg Review

Eliezer Mayenda’s 88th minute winner for Sunderland on Friday night has given the Black Cats a 2-1 aggregate lead over Frank Lampard’s Coventry heading into the return fixture on Tuesday. This is a comeback which is certainly not out of reach for the ex-Chelsea legend and former manager Lampard, as his Derby side famously defeated Leeds United at Elland Road 4-2 to overcome a one-goal deficit from the first leg.

Sunderland beat Coventry 2-1 in the first-leg of their Championship play-off semi-final with only 26% possession 🤯 pic.twitter.com/5lVFofy0dC
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 9, 2025

Sunderland came into this match having lost all their past five games, scoring just once. If we head a few more games back, Coventry actually won at home to Sunderland 3-0, so were potentially heading into this tie as the favourite- or at least it was looking like an entertaining tie. Coventry came into this one in form which returned in a mixed bag. However, the win on the last day against Middlesbrough to confirm their play-off spot is what they would have hoped to propel them coming into this fixture.

In what was a dominant display on the ball by the Sky Blues, it was Sunderland who took their chances when they came, with Mayenda sealing the game and capitalising on a Coventry defensive mistake. It was quite a nervy game at The Coventry Building Society Arena, and it took 68 minutes for the first goal. Frenchman Wilson Isidor gave the Black Cats the lead.

Milan van Ewijk will not want to see this again.

Eliezer Mayenda capitalises the Coventry defender's short back pass and snatches it for Sunderland in the 88th minute.

🎥 @SkyFootball pic.twitter.com/Go6xgkgEgq
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 9, 2025

Frank Lampard’s side responded almost instantly, around 100 seconds later when Jack Rudoni netted his seventh goal in 11 games to cancel out Sunderland’s lead. The game looked to be heading to the Stadium of Light all-square, however, with just two minutes left of regulation, Milan van Ewijk played a poor back-pass which Mayenda took full advantage of the right-back’s mistake to give the Black Cats the advantage heading into the second leg.

2nd Leg Preview

As mentioned before, Frank Lampard has a knack for these comebacks, so Sunderland will have to wary of the threat that Coventry may therefore pose. On top of that, their 3-0 victory not so long ago may still give them confidence and this tie is far from over.

Wilson Isidor said in a post-match interview that they believe Coventry are a very good side, and they know that no slip-ups will be tolerated as they look to book their spot at Wembley in the final for a spot in the Premier League. The Sheffield United versus Bristol City tie was much easier to predict, but this one could truly go either way. We know that Lampard’s sides are capable of a comeback like this one, and Sunderland also played very well on Friday, so we will just have to wait and see who the second name will be playing under the arch on Saturday 24th May.