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Lincoln City
League One | 1st Leg
May 19, 2021 at 6pm UK
LNER Stadium (Lincoln, Lincolnshire)
S
Sunderland

Lincoln
2 - 0
Sunderland

Hopper (51'), Johnson (77')
Bridcutt (72'), Grant (86')
FT(HT: 0-0)

O'Nien (61')

Lincoln City 2-0 Sunderland: Imps firmly in control of playoff tie

:Headline: Lincoln City 2-0 Sunderland: Imps firmly in control of playoff tie:
Goals from Tom Hopper and Brennan Johnson earned the Imps a 2-0 win.
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Lincoln 2-0 Sunderland: Imps firmly in control of playoff tie

Lincoln put themselves firmly in the ascendancy in their Sky Bet League One play-off tie against Sunderland after second-half goals from Tom Hopper and Brennan Johnson gave the Imps a deserved 2-0 victory.

With nothing separating the sides at the break, Hopper fired Lincoln ahead after 51 minutes, before Johnson doubled the lead 15 minutes from time, although City had emergency loan goalkeeper Josef Bursik to thank after he produced two fabulous saves to keep the Black Cats out.

Lincoln's first-choice keeper Alex Palmer sustained a head injury in training, so Stoke stopper Bursik came in to make his debut for the club.

For Sunderland, there was a first outing in two months for defender Tom Flanagan, while Aiden McGeady returned to the starting XI after being rested for the final two league outings.

In front of a raucous Sincil Bank crowd of around 3,000, with supporters able to populate the ground for the first time in over 430 days, home winger Anthony Scully enjoyed the first sight of goal, firing a fifth-minute shot from the edge of the box narrowly over.

There was an early blow for Sunderland when Denver Hume had to be replaced after just 10 minutes through injury, with Callum McFadzean entering the fray.

Imps' on-loan frontman Morgan Rogers then burst through the middle of the park before driving wide of the target.

City were also forced into a change after 15 minutes when defender Adam Jackson broke down and had to be replaced by Lewis Montsma.

The big Dutchman brought out a low save from Black Cats goalkeeper Lee Burge, before the visitors had a first effort on goal after 28 minutes, with Flanagan's header easily dealt with by Bursik.

Lincoln were creating the better chances and Johnson saw a surge forward end with a shot that hit Burge's right-hand post, with the rebound cleared.

Lynden Gooch had an effort deflected over, before bending a 25-yard strike inches wide as Sunderland almost took the lead in the dying moments of the first half.

Bursik earned his corn with a super save from Jordan Jones inside two minutes of the second half, diving to his left to palm the winger's fierce effort onto the woodwork. From the resultant corner, Bailey Wright headed against the crossbar as City's goal somehow stood firm.

Lincoln, though, went down the other end and took the lead through Hopper – Jorge Grant's shot was brilliantly saved by Burge, but the ball came back out to the Imps skipper, who crossed low for Hopper to drill home at the far post.

Bursik produced another one-handed save, this time from McGeady, before the same player curled over from 15 yards.

City doubled their advantage with 15 minutes remaining, when Johnson chased a backpass and, under pressure, Burge could only kick his clearance against the attacker and he had the easy job of walking it into the net.

Bursik breathed a sigh of relief as substitute Grant Leadbitter's long-ranger was deflected narrowly wide of his right-hand upright.

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Birmingham CityBirmingham27196246192763
2Wycombe WanderersWycombe29178455302559
3Wrexham29167643251855
4Stockport CountyStockport29148744281650
5Huddersfield TownHuddersfield28146841261548
6Leyton Orient281351040251544
7Charlton AthleticCharlton2812883628844
8Reading28135104341244
9Bolton WanderersBolton29135114343044
10Barnsley29127104139243
11Stevenage2711792725240
12Lincoln CityLincoln29109103534139
13Blackpool2891184140138
14Mansfield TownMansfield27114123534137
15Rotherham UnitedRotherham28107113333037
16Wigan AthleticWigan2897122728-134
17Exeter CityExeter2995153346-1332
18Peterborough UnitedPeterborough2886144452-830
19Northampton TownNorthampton2979132845-1730
20Bristol Rovers2784152543-1828
21Burton Albion29510143044-1425
22Crawley TownCrawley2766152748-2124
23Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury2865172848-2023
24Cambridge UnitedCambridge2857162950-2122
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