Richard Keys believes Sheffield United were the victim of a terrible decision in the Championship playoff final and would have defeated Sunderland at Wembley Stadium otherwise.
Sunderland won the Wembley Cup 2-1, with Tommy Watson delivering a spectacular shot deep into injury time to secure promotion to the Premier League.
He took advantage of Kieffer Moore’s error, which was heavily lambasted by former striker Darren Bent.
There was considerable dispute, however, as Sheffield United’s goal was ruled out after a VAR review.
Sheffield United were leading 1-0 at the time, and Harrison Burrows appeared to make it 2-0 before the goal was ruled out for offside.
According to VAR, Vinicius Souza’s offside position obstructed the Sunderland goalkeeper’s vision of the play.
Keys believes Sheffield United should not have had the goal ruled out, and at 2-0, he expects the Blades to win the playoff final.
| Team | Promotion method |
|---|---|
| Burnley | Automatic |
| Leeds United | Automatic |
| Sunderland | Playoff winners |
Keys wrote on X: “Congrats to Sunderland but I feel for the Blades. There’s nothing wrong with the 2nd goal.
“Clearly the keeper can see the ball because he tries to save it.
“There’s no way he’s impacted and 2-0 wins it.”
Sheffield United will now have to prepare for another season in the Championship after failing to advance through the playoffs.
The Blades appeared to be a decent bet for automatic promotion until a late-season slump saw them drop out of the top two.
Sunderland, however, had been written off for the playoffs due to their dismal form, with one former EFL star proclaiming them ‘gone’.
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