Sheffield United broke the Championship record for the biggest ever play-off victory as they hammered Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate to reach the final.
Goals from Kieffer Moore, Gustavo Hamer and Callum O’Hare saw them enjoy a 3-0 win in the second leg on Monday night, adding to the comprehensive victory by the same scoreline at Ashton Gate.
They face Sunderland or Coventry in the final at Wembley, with the Black Cats leading that tie 2-1 heading into Tuesday night’s second leg live on Sky Sports.
How the second leg goals went in
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Kieffer Moore puts Sheffield United 4-0 up on aggregate in the play-off semi-final against Bristol City after heading in from a corner
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Gustavo Hamer’s deflected strike from the edge of the area makes it 5-0 on aggregate to Sheffield United against Bristol City in the Championship play-off semi-final
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Callum O’Hare fires home late on to give Sheffield United a 6-goal lead on aggregate against Bristol City
Unwanted history for Bristol City
Four teams had previously lost by a five-goal margin in the second-tier play-offs, Sheffield United became the first side to beat Bristol City by more over two legs.
Sheffield United get the job done
In truth, the damage was done in the first leg. Bristol City were facing an uphill battle in this tie anyway, but then came the red card for Rob Dickie, and the resulting 3-0 win for Sheffield United.
Even taking into account some of the miracles we’ve seen in play-offs past, including just a few miles down the road at Hillsborough in 2023, this was always going to be a near impossible ask for Liam Manning and his side.
On 41 minutes it was tie completely over. A corner was swung in by Harrison Burrows and met by Moore, who headed in from close range.
Shortly after half-time, the lead on the night was doubled. A corner worked out to Hamer on the edge of the box, his strike taking a heavy deflection off Ross McCrorie and looping past Max O’Leary.