Amad sprinkles more magic at Sunderland
Amad was at it again for Sunderland as the Black Cats won 2-1 against Luton Town in the Championship semi-final first leg.
The Manchester United loanee scored a beautiful goal in the 3-0 victory at Preston North End that propelled the Wearsiders into the play-off positions on the final day of the campaign.
He was always going to be a key figure again for Tony Mowbray's men when lining up against Luton at the Stadium of Light, the venue where he netted a late equaliser against the Hatters, from the penalty spot, earlier in the season.
Amad Diallo, take a bow! 🤯pic.twitter.com/AVzTKdjEOD
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) May 13, 2023
Amad has consistently earned the plaudits throughout 2022/23, obtaining the north-east club's Young Player of the Year award, and he sparkled in a 2-1 triumph for the home side.
Luton struck early, through Elijah Adebayo, and looked to be justifying their tag as favourites to progress to the Wembley final. However, in the 39th minute, Amad produced a flash of sheer genius. Alex Pritchard rolled a free-kick short to him and the winger unleashed a perfect, curling drive that whistled past Ethan Horvath and brought the house down in celebration.
It changed the mood at the ground and Sunderland came out in the second half determined to find a winner.
There was more celebration when, in the 63rd minute, Amad was heavily involved in the build-up, ultimately feeding Jack Clarke on the left, and the former Tottenham winger's centre was headed in superbly by defender Trai Hume.
Amad remained the danger man in the closing stages but was very harshly booked for simulation when slipping inside the area, after more neat footwork caused problems for the Luton defence.
The second leg at Kenilworth Road takes place on Tuesday, kicking off at 20:00 BST, as Sunderland look to complete the job in a bid to become the first team to win successive play-off finals in League One and the Championship.
Good luck, Amad!