Armstrong sends Saints marching to Premier League
Southampton secured an immediate return to the Premier League after Adam Armstrong was the hero in a 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the EFL Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Saints' top scorer Armstrong provided the decisive first-half strike, his 24th league goal of the season sending Russell Martin's side straight back into England's top division.
The pair had scored a combined 197 goals this campaign, but just the one finish was enough to settle what was only the third second-tier play-off final between two sides relegated the previous year.
Southampton joins Leicester City and Ipswich Town in winning promotion to England's top flight, while Leeds, which hit the crossbar through Daniel James late on, must prepare for at least another campaign in the Championship.
Daniel Farke's team settled the quicker of the two sides, which were separated by just three points during the regular season, but with little success in front of goal.
Archie Gray, the youngest Leeds player to appear at Wembley, drilled just wide early on, while Wilfried Gnonto shot straight at Alex McCarthy.
However, Southampton struck the all-important opener after 24 minutes, somewhat against the run of play.
Armstrong beat the offside trap after Ethan Ampadu's mindless charge out from the back, latching onto Will Smallbone’s throughball before neatly slotting past Illan Meslier.
A shoulder injury forced a distraught David Brooks off soon after but the Saints went close to doubling their lead just before the break as Meslier parried away Armstrong’s drive.
Crysencio Summerville curled just wide from the edge of the box within four minutes of the restart as Leeds sought an equaliser.
Substitute James rattled the crossbar with a right-footed effort six minutes from time and was again denied by McCarthy, as Southampton held on to seal its return back to the big time.
Southampton was appearing in its first play-off final, and had lost on eight of its 10 previous visits to Wembley, including each of the past five.
However, the Saints stopped the rot with a little help from a promotion expert. Boss Martin achieved five of them as a player, and this was his third to the top flight overall.
Armstrong's cool finish proved the difference, his 24 goals this term is the most by a Southampton player in a single season since Rickie Lambert struck 27 in 2011-2012, its most recent promotion-winning campaign before this one.
It was also the Saints' 100th, and arguably most important, goal of the season, its first time reaching triple figures since the 2009-2010 season under Alan Pardew.
Leeds has now appeared in the English Football League play-offs on six occasions, failing to secure promotion in each of those instances.
The omens did not look good when it fell behind considering not since Cardiff City in 2010 has a team failed to get promoted after opening the scoring in a Championship play-off final.
It is just more than 16 years since Leeds's third play-off final disappointment against Doncaster Rovers in League One, and it has now played the most such matches without gaining promotion.
Farke also missed the opportunity to become the third manager after Steve Bruce (four) and Neil Warnock (three) to win three Premier League promotions, after his Championship-winning campaigns of 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 with Norwich City.
