Luton Town vs Sunderland: Nigerian Hatters end Amad's Sunderland fairytale

It was heartbreak for Manchester United’s loanee Amad Diallo and his Sunderland teammates in the English Championship playoffs on Tuesday night.

Amad’s Wembley dream came crashing down after a disastrous second leg outing against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.

Luton Town produced a masterclass to beat Sunderland 2-0 on the night for a 3-2 aggregate with two players of Nigerian descent Gabriel Osho and Elijah Adebayo playing important roles.

England-born duo Osho and Adebayo were at their very best as the Hatters turned around the defeat from the first leg with an excellent performance.

The home side trailed 2-1 on aggregate after that defeat in the first leg on Saturday.

Amad was unplayable at the weekend and netted an excellent equaliser to cancel out the opener for Luton by Adebayo.

However, the second leg was a different ball game as Osho and Adebayo’s Luton served a superb display to book their ticket to the lucrative final at Wembley.

Behind on aggregate, the home side started positively and made their intentions known early on in the game with Osho decisive.

As his compatriot did in the first leg, the 24-year-old centre-back opened the scoring with a stunning header to put Luton in front.

That goal proved to be key for the Hatters as they built their confidence after that, keeping United’s wonderkid Amad in a cage for the duration of the encounter.

Osho’s fellow Nigerian, Adebayo, who made the Pulse Sports 30 list last season, was particularly impressive against the Black Cats despite not getting on the score sheet in the second leg.

The 25-year-old forward attempted four shots, created two chances, two key passes and completed two take-ons from just 10 passes in the game.

Both players started and finished the encounter which saw their teammate Tom Lockyer seal the deal with the decisive second goal.

The Hatters will take on the winner of the second playoff match between Chuba Akpom’s Middlesbrough and Coventry slated for later tonight at the Riverside.

Amad scored 14 goals and provided three assists for Sunderland while Adebayo scored eight goals and provided four assists for Luton.