2022 EFL Championship play-off final
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Date | 29 May 2022 | ||||||
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Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Referee | Jon Moss | ||||||
Attendance | 80,019 | ||||||
The 2022 EFL Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 2022 at Wembley Stadium, London, England, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2021–22 EFL Championship, Fulham and Bournemouth, gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the clubs placed from third to sixth in the table took part in the 2022 English Football League play-offs. Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest competed for the final place in the 2022–23 Premier League season.
Route to the final
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
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1 | Fulham (C, P) | 46 | 27 | 9 | 10 | 106 | 43 | +63 | 90 |
2 | Bournemouth (P) | 46 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 74 | 39 | +35 | 88 |
3 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 64 | 47 | +17 | 82 |
4 | Nottingham Forest (O, P) | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 73 | 40 | +33 | 80 |
5 | Sheffield United | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 63 | 45 | +18 | 75 |
6 | Luton Town | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 63 | 55 | +8 | 75 |
Huddersfield Town finished the regular 2021–22 season in third place in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, one place and two points ahead of Nottingham Forest. They both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third and final promoted team.[3] Huddersfield finished six points behind Bournemouth (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winners Fulham.[2]
In their play-off semi-final, Huddersfield faced sixth-placed
In the other play-off semi-final, Nottingham Forest met
Match
Background
This was Huddersfield Town's sixth appearance in a play-off final. Their most recent previous appearance was in the
Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield had faced each other three times during the season, with both sides winning away in the league. Nottingham Forest won 2–0 in September 2021 while Huddersfield secured a 1–0 victory three months later.[13] In March 2022, the teams played each other in the fifth round of the 2021–22 FA Cup, with Nottingham Forest coming from behind to win 2–1.[14] Going into the final, Johnson was top scorer for Nottingham Forest with 18 goals and 10 assists in 48 appearances, while Danny Ward was leading marksman for Huddersfield, having scored 14 times and making 3 assists in 42 games.[15]
In May 2022, the EFL announced that for the first time, the
Summary
Nottingham Forest
Neither side made any changes to their playing personnel during the interval and Huddersfield Town kicked the second half off. Three minutes in, Yates struck the ball from around 25 yards (23 m) but it was saved by Lee Nicholls in the Huddersfield goal.[21] In the 55th minute, Zinckernagel received the first yellow card of the match for a foul on Lewis O'Brien but the resulting free kick went wide of the Nottingham Forest goal. Two minutes later, Jonathan Hogg's header was high before Huddersfield Town made the first substitution of the game with Jon Russell replacing Sarr. In the 66th minute, Nottingham Forest made their first personnel change, with Sam Surridge coming on for Davis, while Huddersfield Town made a double-substitution a minute later, when Sinani was replaced by Duane Holmes and Rhodes came on for Ward. On 71 minutes, a shot from Johnson went wide of the Huddersfield Town goal before Toffolo fell in the Nottingham Forest penalty area after a tackle from Colback,[22] which the referee judged to be a dive. The decision was reviewed by VAR, which did not find a "clear and obvious error", and Toffolo was booked for a dive, and no penalty was awarded.[23]
With fifteen minutes remaining, Zinckernagel was substituted and replaced by Max Lowe for Nottingham Forest. In the 84th minute, Huddersfield Town's O'Brien was brought down by Lowe and despite claims for a penalty, the referee declined to award it. Three minutes later, Pipa's 35-yard (32 m) strike went high over the Nottingham Forest goal before Samba was forced off the pitch with an injury to be replaced by Ethan Horvath. Six minutes of stoppage time were indicated by the fourth official,[24] and with one minute remaining, O'Brien's shot from the edge of the Nottingham Forest penalty area flew wide. The referee blew the final whistle and Nottingham Forest won the match 1–0, to gain promotion to the Premier League.[25]
Details
Huddersfield Town
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Nottingham Forest
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Huddersfield Town | Nottingham Forest | |
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Possession | 48% | 52% |
Goals scored | 0 | 1 |
Shots on target | 0 | 2 |
Shots off target | 5 | 6 |
Fouls committed | 7 | 11 |
Corner kicks | 4 | 2 |
Yellow cards | 1 | 1 |
Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Post-match
Huddersfield Town's manager Carlos Corberán questioned the utility of VAR, stating he had "No idea what the point of VAR is ... I don't know if they can review actions, if the referee doesn't ask? ... I can only accept the decisions."[17] His defender, Tom Lees, was also convinced that decisions had gone against his side, suggesting that it "could change the club forever, I thought we had the cameras there to make sure the game wasn't spoiled by a bad decision. We've just got to take it."[17] Steve Cooper, the Nottingham Forest manager, stated "We deserve to be promoted, there is no doubt about that."[26]
References
- ^ Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2022). "Huddersfield Town 0–1 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport.
- ^ a b "Championship – 2021/2022 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ "EFL Official Website – About the Play-Offs". English Football League. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ McIntyre, David (13 May 2022). "Luton Town 1–1 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ Woodcock, Ian (16 May 2022). "Huddersfield Town 1–0 Luton Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ "Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest, 14 May 2022". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ Woodcock, Ian (14 May 2022). "Sheffield United 1–2 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ Aloia, Andrew (17 May 2022). "Nottingham Forest 1–2 Sheffield United (agg 3–3): Forest win 3–2 on penalties". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Billy Sharp: Man arrested after Sheffield United captain allegedly assaulted after loss to Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Billy Sharp: Fan jailed for headbutting player at end of match". BBC News. 19 May 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Huddersfield Town". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Nottingham Forest". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Nottingham Forest football club: record v Huddersfield Town". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ Anderson, Jess (7 March 2022). "Nottingham Forest 2–1 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "Championship Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ "VAR to be used in all three EFL play-off finals". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2022). "Carlos Corberan: Huddersfield Town boss questions VAR decisions in play-off final defeat". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ "Referee appointments: Sky Bet Championship and Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Finals". English Football League. 26 May 2022. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 7 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 6 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 5 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 4 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Abbott, Matt (1 June 2022). "Mark Clattenburg delivers Jon Moss and Nottingham Forest play-off final penalty verdict". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
- ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 3 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 2 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ "Steve Cooper: Nottingham Forest belong in Premier League, says boss after promotion". BBC Sport. 29 May 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.