Sunderland fought back to take a 2-1 advantage from the first leg of their Championship promotion playoff semi-final with Luton Town.
The visiting side, who finished the regular season third and are aiming to earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time, silenced the Stadium of Light by taking the lead in the 11th minute through Elijah Adebayo.
But Sunderland, who were last in the Premier League in 2016/17 and are looking for back-to-back promotions after falling to League One, fought back to go into half-time level with a superb strike from Amad Diallo, pictured, the winger on loan from Manchester United.
They take a one-goal lead into the second leg at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday evening thanks to a second-half header from Trai Hulme.
The other two promotion hopefuls, Coventry City and Middlesbrough start their semi-final on Sunday at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
The winners of the two semi-finals will face each other in the playoff final at Wembley on 27 May as they look to join Burnley and Sheffield United, who have already confirmed their places in the 2023/24 Premier League.
Championship promotion playoff fixtures/results
Semi-finals first legs
13 May Sunderland 2-1 Luton
14 May 12:00 Coventry v Middlesbrough
Semi-finals second legs
16 May 20:00 Luton v Sunderland
17 May 20:00 Middlesbrough v Coventry
Final
27 May 16:45 TBC
*all times BST
