Luton Town moved a step closer to a debut season in the Premier League when they beat Sunderland 3-2 on aggregate after a 2-0 win at Kenilworth Road in their Championship playoff semi-final.
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg at the Stadium of Light, Luton quickly levelled the tie with a close-range finish by Gabriel Osho from a knockdown by captain Tom Lockyer following a 10th-minute corner.
The decisive goal came just before half-time as Luton again exploited Sunderland's injury-hit defence at a corner delivered by Alfie Doughty that Lockyer (pictured above) headed in.
LUTON TOWN ARE GOING TO WEMBLEY!#LUTSUN | #COYH pic.twitter.com/yN34bZJWxN
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) May 16, 2023
The Hatters will face Coventry City or Middlesbrough in the playoff final at Wembley on 27 May.
Those two teams meet at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium on Wednesday evening after sharing a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their semi-final at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Burnley and Sheffield United sealed automatic promotion to the 2023/24 Premier League by finishing in the Championship's top two positions.
Championship promotion playoff matches
Semi-finals first legs
13 May Sunderland 2-1 Luton
14 May Coventry 0-0 Middlesbrough
Semi-finals second legs
16 May Luton 2-0 Sunderland (Luton win 3-2 on agg.)
17 May 20:00 Middlesbrough v Coventry
Final
27 May 16:45 Luton v TBC
*all times BST
