Captain Patrick Bauer scored a dramatic injury time winner as Charlton beat Sunderland 2-1 in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off final at Wembley.
The Addicks booked their place in the Sky Bet Championship after three seasons in the third tier - and their first full campaign under Lee Bowyer - thanks to Bauer who vitally netted a rebound in the 94th minute.
It completed a dramatic turnaround for Bowyer's Addicks, who conceded early on after a mix-up between goalkeeper Dillon Phillips and Naby Sarr.
After waiting 119 minutes for the first goal in the Sky Bet League Two final on Saturday, it took just short of five minutes in Sunday's meeting in front of over 76,000 fans at Wembley.
It was the worst possible start for Charlton, whose centre-back Sarr passed back to Phillips who somehow let the ball slip past his feet and into the back of the net.
Bowyer’s side enjoyed a good spell shortly around the half hour, patiently biding their time in the Sunderland half and they were back on level terms after 35 minutes. An interchange between Lyle Taylor and Joe Aribo saw the former send a low ball across the six-yard box for Purrington to meet at the back post.
The second half saw few chances, but it was Charlton pushing late on and they grabbed the decisive winner with seconds to play - four minutes into added time - much to the relief of Phillips and Sarr after their early error.
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- Excluding penalty shootout victories, Charlton are the first team to win the third tier play-off final after conceding the first goal since 2001, when Walsall won 3-2 against Reading.
- Amongst all club sides, only Newcastle United (eight) are currently on a longer winless run in matches played at Wembley than Sunderland, who have drawn two and lost five of their last seven such games.
- Charlton sealed promotion via the play-offs for the second time in their history, with both of them coming against Sunderland (previously winning 7-6 on penalties in the 1998 second tier final).
- Patrick Bauer’s winning goal for Charlton was his first of the season across all competitions, in what was his 39th appearance of the campaign.
- Including play-offs, Charlton’s Lyle Taylor has been directly involved in 33 goals in League One this season (22 goals, 11 assists); more than any other player.
- Charlton’s Ben Purrington scored his first ever goal in the English Football League, in what was his 120th such appearance (including play-offs).
- At 4 minutes and 24 seconds, Naby Sarr's own goal was the earliest to be scored in a League One match in 2018-19 (including play-offs).
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