Sunderland's remarkable first season back in the Premier League was rewarded with Europa League football after they beat 10-man Chelsea 2-1 on the final day.
2025/2026 Premier League
2-1
Match Report
With Brentford drawing at Liverpool and Brighton losing to Manchester United, Regis Le Bris' side jumped up to seventh and will play in Europe for the first time in 52 years.
Both sides fashioned early chances as Cole Palmer tested Robin Roefs four minutes in before Enzo Le Fee stung the palms of Robert Sanchez at the other end soon after.
Nordi Mukiele then fired wildly across goal, and Nilson Angulo almost punished an error by Jorrel Hato as Sunderland ramped up the pressure, and their persistence was rewarded in the 25th minute by an unlikely source.
A long punt upfield from Roefs was flicked on by Luke O'Nien for Trai Hume to volley in at the near post, with visiting goalkeeper Sanchez caught on his toes for the opener.
Brian Brobbey then spurned a glorious opportunity to double Sunderland's lead 54 seconds after the restart, but he played a big part in the Black Cats' second five minutes into the second half when his scuffed attempt was turned into the net by Malo Gusto's outstretched leg.
However, Chelsea halved the deficit almost immediately through Palmer, whose shot from the edge of the box somehow evaded Roefs' grasp, but the visitors' hopes of a comeback were all but ended in the 62nd minute.
Wesley Fofana received his second booking for pulling back Wilson Isidor, but even with a man down, Chelsea pushed for a leveller that ultimately never came as the full-time whistle was greeted by cheers of euphoria on Wearside.
EUROPA LEAGUE FOOTBALL IS COMING TO SUNDERLAND! pic.twitter.com/Up6w6rnm9L
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC" >@SunderlandAFC) May 24, 2026
Data Debrief: From League One to Europe
Just four years ago, Sunderland were playing in the third tier of the English football pyramid, but fast-forward to now, they are preparing for life back on the European stage after a stellar first season back in the Premier League.
The Black Cats finished on 54 points this season, the most by a newly promoted side since Leeds United in 2020-21 (59), while their seventh-place finish is the best by a promoted team since Wolves in 2018-19 (also seventh).
For Chelsea, meanwhile, they will begin the Xabi Alonso era without European football, and their end-of-season form proved to be their downfall. Since the start of March, the Blues have lost more Premier League games than any other side (eight).
And they were comfortably second-best again on Sunday. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 0.9 from their eight shots compared to Sunderland's tally of 1.93 xG from their 21 attempts
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
5' Palmer zig-zags his way into the box and drills a low shot, but the keeper makes a great save
7' Enzo Le Fee picks up a pass and produces a strike, but the keeper keeps the ball out
14' Sadiki is too forceful with his tackle and the ref interrupted the game to signal a free kick
18' A long ball forward to Brian Brobbey is intercepted and the ball goes out of play
20' Mukiele has a chance inside the box following a rebound off a defender but his effort goes well wide
25' GOAL! A cross into the box is headed down by O'Nien and Trai Hume fires home! Sunderland 1-0 Chelsea
31' Brobbey nicely turned his man inside the box but placed his effort just wide of the right post
36' Sunderland appeals for a handball from Fofana but the ref signals no foul
39' A precise cross into the box finds Joao Pedro, whose header flies narrowly wide of the right post
50' OWN GOAL! Gusto scores own goal attempting to intercept an offensive pass! Sunderland 2-0 Chelsea
56' GOAL! Palmer collects a pass and fires a shot into the bottom right corner! Sunderland 2-1 Chelsea
62' Wesley Fofana is shown a second yellow card for his foul!
65' Diarra receives the ball inside the box from the resulting free kick, but his shot is blocked
73' The tackle by Xhaka was quite harsh and Kavanagh didn't hesitate to show him a yellow card
77' A precise low pass is received by Palmer, but his poorly placed shot sails well over the bar
Line-ups
Sunderland XI: Xhaka, Mandava, Luke O'Nien, Mukiele, Lutsharel Geertruida, Enzo Le Fée, Brian Brobbey, Trai Hume, Robin Roefs, Nilson Angulo, Noah Sadiki
Subs: Traore, Omar Alderete, Wilson Isidor, Cirkin, Melker Ellborg, Habib Diarra, Eliezer Mayenda, Chris Rigg, Jocelin Ta Bi
Chelsea XI: Cucurella, Robert Sánchez, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana, João Pedro, Enzo, Caicedo, Colwill, Gusto, Jorrel Hato
Subs: Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Jørgensen, Garnacho, Liam Delap, Dário Essugo, Andrey Santos, Josh Acheampong, Jesse Derry