05/23/26 01:35:00
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05/23 13:33 CDT Hull back in the Premier League after dramatic late goal in
playoff
Hull back in the Premier League after dramatic late goal in playoff
LONDON (AP) --- Oli McBurnie scored late in stoppage time to send Hull into the
Premier League after beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in a playoff at a scorching
Wembley on Saturday.
It ends a nine-year absence from the top flight for Hull, which survived
relegation to League One a year ago only on goal difference.
"We felt we'd have one chance and I felt like it was written for me to get it,"
McBurnie told broadcaster Sky Sports. "I didn't think it would be so late on,
but what a feeling.
"I couldn't sleep last night, I was looking forward to this game so much, I am
delighted."
Middlesbrough arguably shouldn't even have been in the Championship Final
playoff as it lost the semifinal to Southampton but was reinstated after the
south coast club was expelled for spying on Middlesbrough's trainings.
Southampton lost its appeal last week.
"What has happened made it the toughest two weeks I have had in terms of
emotions," Middlesbrough coach Kim Hellberg said. "It's been tough and draining
but it is not an excuse, we were ready to play the game, Hull scored the goal
and we have to congratulate them."
The playoff final is labeled the world's richest one-off soccer match because a
windfall of at least $270 million in future earnings is on offer for the
winning team.
Hull and Middlesbrough had been in the Championship for nine years after going
up to the Premier League together in 2015-16 and then coming down together a
season later.
On Saturday, both teams struggled to create opportunities in a cagey first half.
Hull went closest on the stroke of halftime when McBurnie's header flicked off
a Middlesbrough defender and clipped the top of the crossbar.
The match opened up more in the second half but neither goalkeeper was
seriously tested and it appeared as if, with the heat already sapping their
energy, the teams were set for extra time and penalties.
However, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Yu Hirakawa whipped in a cross
from the left and Boro goalkeeper Sol Brynn could only push it into the path of
McBurnie, who lashed it into the empty net from close range.
McBurnie ripped off his shirt as he wheeled away in celebration.
Boro's Wembley curse continued as it lost at the stadium for the sixth time in
as many appearances.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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