Latest news with #EliezerMayenda
New York Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Will Sunderland and the newly promoted teams fare better than this season's instant returns?
Away from the watering eyes of their jubilant public, in the bowels of Wembley Stadium as Saturday afternoon became Saturday night, the victorious players of Sunderland walked back and forth in a state of bliss, shook hands, patted backs and roared approval. The latest of late semi-final goals from Dan Ballard that had brought Sunderland here had been replicated thrillingly, dramatically — devastatingly for Sheffield United — by Tommy Watson five minutes into added time. Advertisement From 1-0 down with 15 minutes to go, Sunderland had won 2-1. From disbelieving to half-believing to sudden full belief, the fans and squad erupted. Sunderland, 16th in the Championship last season, in League One in 2022, had hauled themselves back into the Premier League after eight years away. Eliezer Mayenda, who scored the crucial equaliser with a snapped finish, gripped the play-off winners' trophy like it was a religious artefact. Trai Hume strode past with a giant beatbox pumping out Oasis' Wonderwall. Luke O'Nien, arm in a sling and 'morphined up' following his early injury, was still in his kit as 7.45pm approached and the team bus prepared to leave for an all-staff, all-night party in west London. Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman wore a Jobe Bellingham tracksuit top. There were countless other happy scenes — club hero Niall Quinn popped by, beaming — as goalkeeper Anthony Patterson said he could not really recall his superb second-minute save from Kieffer Moore until his colleagues started telling him about it in the dressing room. 'It's lively in there,' Patterson said, deadpan. Having turned 25 a fortnight ago, Patterson has over 150 league games for Sunderland and chose the right occasion to make his most telling contribution of the season. Patterson made two saves that prevented the Blades from taking a two-goal lead that would have felt irretrievable. Bellingham, too, delivered his best performance in the biggest moment, seizing the second half and driving Sunderland towards their fans at that end of Wembley. He was aided by Enzo Le Fee dropping back and by the introduction of Patrick Roberts, whose dagger skills on the right wing altered the game's momentum. Roberts spoke of collective 'resilience', Patterson of 'togetherness' and Watson said he might have 'a drop of ale'. But it will be Watson's last as a Sunderland player. The jarring reality for clubs promoted from the Championship, particularly those who go up via the play-off final with June around the corner, is that even in their hour of happiness, Premier League scrutiny arrives like a knock on the door. Watson turned 19 last month and the week before his birthday was announced as a Brighton player next season. There is an initial £10million ($13.5m) fee. For that, some Sunderland fans booed the teenager — a less publicised version of the Trent Alexander-Arnold situation — but the club persevered with their homegrown talent. Watson said there have been 'some really tough moments' since it became clear he would be departing Wearside for Brighton. He leaves two younger brothers in the Sunderland academy. 'I'm a Sunderland player today and I should think I'll be a legend at the club after that,' he smiled, when informed his goal could mean as much as £200million to the club. Watson goes to the Under-19 Euros with England this summer. His position in the team was not established, but Watson's sale may be the first of a few. Not many at Sunderland expect Bellingham to remain, although the suitors in Serie A, as well as in England and the Bundesliga, will have to find £20-25million to secure the 19 year-old's signature. There will be takers for Chris Rigg, 17, who started at Wembley, while Patterson, captain Dan Neil and left-back Dennis Cirkin all have admirers. Advertisement Regis Le Bris, bolder than usual with his substitutions, may have some, too. Can the club stay up, he was asked. 'I hope so,' he replied. Sunderland's increased financial strength should enable the club to be more persuasive contractually. They have already demonstrated some greater economic ambition than previously in their rise from League One under the majority shareholding of young Kyril Louis-Dreyfus — Le Fee's loan transfer from Roma became permanent on promotion. The fee is an initial £16m, a club record. But there were times in the first half, as Sunderland looked inferior to Sheffield United, when it seemed Brentford would eat them up in the Premier League, never mind Liverpool. Inevitably there will be calls externally for a rake of signings. Whether the same will be said internally is another matter. There is little sense a spree is coming. The example of Ipswich Town last summer and this season will be assessed. Ipswich spent over £100m but still went down with only four wins and 36 goals to show for it. Southampton, last season's play-off winners, fared even worse. The third promoted club in 2023-24, Leicester City, are also going straight back down. It means that for the second consecutive Premier League season all three promoted clubs have been relegated. The expectation will be that Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland will add to this new pattern as the Premier League middle-class — clubs such as Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton — are buttressed year on year by huge revenues. The growing gap to them is seen in declining points totals for the promoted clubs. Even Luton Town, who made a spirited effort to stay up last season, only managed 26 points. They were six shy of fourth-bottom Nottingham Forest, though only because Forest were deducted four points. Advertisement Luton utilised their unique home, Kenilworth Road, to at least unnerve the elite and Leeds will bring Elland Road back with them next season. It is vital they use its hostility. Burnley return to the top flight with a formidable defensive record that saw Scott Parker's side concede only 16 goals in 46 Championship matches, but tightness in the Premier League will be a different test altogether. The Clarets conceded 78 the last time they were there. In 2022-23 Bournemouth and Forest stayed up with goal differences of -34 and -30 respectively and neither scored more than a goal a game. Fulham did best and made a clever, relatively cheap £17m purchase in Joao Palhinha from Sporting Lisbon. Recruitment is key. So it can be done. But both Bournemouth and Forest have invested heavily since and are 'Premier League-ready', a phrase that was put to a couple of Sunderland players on Saturday. Roberts, now 28 and one of the few with, albeit limited, Premier League experience, said 'you have to ask them' when asked if Sunderland are ready to go, as a club anthem states. 'When I came here (January 2022) it was obviously a big, huge club. Everyone kept saying: 'How are they in League One?'. But you're in League One for a reason. The task was to get out of it.' Roberts was one of six Sunderland players on the Wembley pitch who have made that journey the whole way — reminiscent of Ipswich. O'Nien is another and, nodding to his damaged shoulder, said he would give everything to stay in the Premier League — 'I'll give my arms, my knees, my head.' The 49,000 who will pack the Stadium of Light having walked across the new £30m footbridge, close to completion, from the city centre to the ground will relish that attitude. Sunderland brought noise and colour to Wembley. They will bring it to the Premier League, too.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Hopefully my whole family are proud of me'
Sunderland striker Eliezer Mayenda hopes he made his family proud in helping the Black Cats win promotion to the Premier League. The 20-year-old scored a 76th minute equaliser in the Championship play-off final 2-1 victory against Sheffield United. He told BBC Radio Newcastle, "It was a really good time to score especially in that moment of the game. "After the first half, in the second half we were more confident with the ball. This goal was like a recompense about how we played in the second half, so yeah it was good." He added: "After the goal we said on the pitch, 'lads we have to keep pushing again, we can win the game.' After that we did it. Tommy was incredible. He was incredible in the second half. Tommy scored the second goal and everybody was really happy about that." Substitute Tommy Watson's winner was a poetic moment as he's set to leave Regis Le Bris' side this summer to join Brighton. The deal was announced before the season finished and some Sunderland supporters called for the academy product to not play another minute for the club. On the other hand, Mayenda has become a fan favourite. Chants of "Oi big man, what's your name?" were heard loud and proud around Trafalgar Square and Wembley this weekend. The Spaniard says he's happy to have repaid supporters: "Good. I'm very happy. It's good for the team, for the club, for everybody, for the fans. Yeah, I'm happy, very happy." "Very happy not just for me but for the fans again as well so I'm just very happy to get promotion." "We stayed confident during all the game. I think we did well today especially with the mentality. Team spirit was good today. I think the fans deserve it." Mayenda's family were in the stands at Wembley to see him become the third youngest goalscorer ever in a second division play-off final. He said: "Hopefully my whole family are proud." We're sure they are big man. Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Hopefully my whole family are proud of me'
Sunderland striker Eliezer Mayenda hopes he made his family proud in helping the Black Cats win promotion to the Premier League. The 20-year-old scored a 76th minute equaliser in the Championship play-off final 2-1 victory against Sheffield United. He told BBC Radio Newcastle, "It was a really good time to score especially in that moment of the game. "After the first half, in the second half we were more confident with the ball. This goal was like a recompense about how we played in the second half, so yeah it was good."He added: "After the goal we said on the pitch, 'lads we have to keep pushing again, we can win the game.' After that we did it. Tommy was incredible. He was incredible in the second half. Tommy scored the second goal and everybody was really happy about that."Substitute Tommy Watson's winner was a poetic moment as he's set to leave Regis Le Bris' side this summer to join Brighton. The deal was announced before the season finished and some Sunderland supporters called for the academy product to not play another minute for the club. On the other hand, Mayenda has become a fan favourite. Chants of "Oi big man, what's your name?" were heard loud and proud around Trafalgar Square and Wembley this weekend. The Spaniard says he's happy to have repaid supporters: "Good. I'm very happy. It's good for the team, for the club, for everybody, for the fans. Yeah, I'm happy, very happy.""Very happy not just for me but for the fans again as well so I'm just very happy to get promotion.""We stayed confident during all the game. I think we did well today especially with the mentality. Team spirit was good today. I think the fans deserve it."Mayenda's family were in the stands at Wembley to see him become the third youngest goalscorer ever in a second division play-off said: "Hopefully my whole family are proud."We're sure they are big to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.
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Scotsman
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Sunderland ace seals magic turnaround from Hibs struggle and books star's Premier League spot
A former Hibs star is going to the Premier League with Sunderland - and seals a possible top flight chance for an ace who's thrived in Leith. Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A former Hibs player has helped Sunderland to the Premier League - and sent a thriving Hibee along for the ride. Eliezer Mayenda spent the second half of the 23/24 campaign on loan at Hibs but exited quietly after just four outings with no goals or assists. He arrived alongside Nectar Triantis from the Black Cats and while the defender turned all action midfielder had a second coming at Hibs to great affect, Mayenda stayed to fight for his place at Sunderland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He has managed to do so to in stunning fashion, scoring one of the goals in their 2-1 Championship play-off final win at Wembley against Sheffield United. It books Sunderland's place back in the Premier League after Tommy Watson's late effort sparked emotional scenes at England's national stadium, capping off an incredible comeback story for Mayenda, who's netted 10 goals this season. Former Hibs star helps book Sunderland return to Premier League Commentator Daniel Mann said as the ball flew in: 'Well finally they put it together and that is the result, Sunderland have suddenly produced a magic moment out of nowhere.' What it means for Triantis remains to be seen, now that his parent club have reached the Premier League, with a possible top flight chance in England opening up. Hibs will likely be keen to have him again ahead of their European qualifiers in July plus defence of Scotland's third spot. He became a virtual ever-present in David Gray's midfield and form had him nominated for the SFWA Player of the Year award. Mayenda said of his first season at Sunderland earlier this month to the Athletic, which included the spell at Hibs: 'Last season was my first season and when I started training with my new team-mates I said to my dad, 'We've a good a team here, we just need patience'. If we get patience, we can do something here, because these are good young players. I said it to supporters last season, 'Patience. Let the players work, let the players work. The results will come'. When I saw the name Sunderland, I said to my dad that I didn't want to go to the French First Division, I want to go to Sunderland. It was just my feeling, I can't tell you why exactly, it was just a natural connection. Sunderland was special. I knew it was historic in England, it had been in the Premier League and everyone has seen the documentary on Netflix.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Former Hibs man had unexpected chance His boss, Regis Le Bris, said of Mayenda during the play-off run: 'He got an unexpected opportunity. It's rare when you work with your lineup at the start of the season and say: 'This player will play 25 games, we can build a pathway for him'. More often, a player is in the squad but not really a starter. 'Then there is an injury and a player will seize this opportunity, because he is connected. He will say: 'I'm here and I will show you'. The best players in the world are like that and Eli showed this quality. Even he didn't expect this season. Now it's a question of consistency.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
升班大戰 ｜新特蘭反Cup絕殺錫菲聯 相隔八年重返英超 下年收入高達20億
英冠升班附加賽由排名第三的錫菲聯，鬥第四的新特蘭。新特蘭在落後一球之下，憑Eliezer Mayenda喺76分鐘扳平，然後到補時第5分鐘，由自家青訓出品兼後備入替的Tom Watson截斷對方進攻，再遠射建功，最終以2比1反Cup兼絕殺錫菲聯，順利取得資格，相隔八年重返英超。 其實「黑貓」季末狀態低迷，在附加賽前最後8場只贏過1場，更一度6連敗，雖然聯賽排名只差一位，但分數其實比錫菲聯少14分。但贏得呢場就已經夠，來季將與列斯聯及般尼一齊重返英超。 My head would fall off if I was a Sheffield United fanFinished on 90 points, chances to go 2-0 up and then give the ball away in the 95th minute and concede a pass into the goal to loseFair play Sunderland. Look forward to the Tyne-Wear derby next season — Connor Cain (@TheConnorCain) May 24, 2025 對錫菲聯而言，又一次心碎告終。這已經是他們第十次未能通過升班附加賽成功升班，而且他們最近八次作客溫布萊球場仍未嘗一勝。 據報，新特蘭升上英超後，單是比賽日收入、轉播權及商業贊助收益，預計可獲折合約20億港元。 Tom Watson呢一個入波，真係含金量極高。 作者：Leocciano Callao 原文：Sunderland is back in the Premier League for the first time in 8 years after dramatic stoppage-time goal
