Report: Armstrong goal fires Saints back to the Premier League

It was Leeds who made the sharper start, with a couple of early half-chances for Archie Gray and Wilfried Gnonto, but were never quite able to build on it on a day when Saints defended as well as they have in any of their 54 games in this most gruelling of seasons.

Armstrong’s moment arrived in the 24th minute of a typically tense final – fittingly his 24th goal of a superb individual campaign, ensuring Saints defeated Leeds for the third time this season, with Armstrong scoring in all three of them.

Samuel Edozie, a first-half substitute for the injured David Brooks, came closest to a second goal midway through the second half, but was off target with a curling effort from 15 yards.

By that time Crysencio Summerville had come close for Leeds, for whom Daniel James crashed a shot against the underside of the bar six minutes from time with Alex McCarthy beaten, before the keeper dived to his left to thwart the Welshman midway through nine excruciating minutes of added time.

But this was to be Saints’ day, and one that will live long in the memory for all those who witnessed it, as Leeds’ play-off curse continued with a sixth straight failure.

Both managers opted for unchanged starting line-ups following their respective second-leg successes in the semi-finals, with Martin keeping faith in the team that dispatched West Brom on a raucous night at St Mary’s.

Strikers Ché Adams and Ross Stewart were both among the substitutes, having been nursing injuries in the lead up to the final, while Sékou Mara was the unfortunate one to miss out on a place in the matchday squad.

Saints could take heart from their two league victories over Leeds, 3-1 at home, the game that started the club record 25-match unbeaten run, and 2-1 away on the final day of the regular season.

Traditionally the sun shines on Wembley final day, as it did for the FA Cup final 24 hours prior, but it was a torrential downpour that greeted the players as they emerged from the tunnel to deafening noise from both ends of the iconic stadium, as red and white flags fluttered and balloons bobbled for Saints, who were in the black third kit in which they triumphed at Elland Road just 22 days ago.

Around 37,000 Saints fans filled one end of Wembley

It was 18-year-old Gray, the Championship’s Young Player of the Season at the EFL Awards, who hit the first shot in anger inside four minutes, driving infield from right-back and hitting a low left-footer that McCarthy watched wide of his left-hand post.

It was a bright start from Leeds, head to toe in white, as a sharp interchange between Gnonto and Georginio Rutter presented another shooting chance 20 yards out, which Gnonto scuffed straight to McCarthy.

Leeds’ intensity was underlined by a sliding tackle from Junior Firpo right through the back of Brooks, leaving the defender fortunate to escape without a yellow card.

Saints mounted their first meaningful attack in the 12th minute, as a sweeping move from right to left saw Ryan Fraser thread the ball in behind for Armstrong, who resisted the urge to shoot with his left foot and instead tried to pull the ball across goal for the incoming Will Smallbone, but the midfielder’s late run was well spotted.

Smallbone then tried his luck from a 25-yard free-kick, forcing a first save from Illan Meslier away to his right, before the Frenchman looked unconvincing as Smallbone swung in the resulting corner with menace.

Saints finding their rhythm brought the sunshine to Wembley, and before long Martin’s side had their noses in front.

That typical patient build up started it all, as Saints probed on the halfway line, passing the ball between defenders before Flynn Downes upped the tempo with a first-time ball around the corner for Smallbone midway inside the Leeds half.

As Ethan Ampadu stepped out of defence to shut him down, Smallbone nudged a delightful pass through his legs for Armstrong, who ran into the space vacated by the centre-back and kept his cool impressively, calmly rolling the ball across Meslier to find the bottom corner.

The moment Saints craved: Adam Armstrong scores the only goal of the play-off final

The elation of scoring the opener was a sight to behold inside Wembley, but those celebrations might have been cut short when a low corner routine backfired on Saints, as Smallbone stepped over it and suddenly Leeds broke at pace, with only Kyle Walker-Peters and Jack Stephens behind the ball. Thankfully, Stephens got a crucial touch to halt the counter when Leeds had men over.

Saints’ first major setback of the final arrived ten minutes before the break when Brooks was forced off with an injury. The winger had stayed down a couple of times before he hobbled off around the Wembley pitch in front of the Saints fans, seemingly holding his groin, as Edozie entered the fray to play on the right-hand side.

It’s worth noting that Stephens was effectively playing as a left-back in possession and a centre-back out of it, with Fraser covering the entire left flank – a wing-back as Saints defended with a five-man backline and a left-sided forward when Saints attacked.

Leeds were coming back into the game but Saints were looking solid, and when McCarthy was called upon to punch clear a corner he did so with authority.

The closest either side came to a second goal in the first half was a Saints chance, with Leeds failing to muster an attempt since the seventh minute.

This time an inventive set-piece nearly paid off, as Smallbone’s clip into the box found the run of Armstrong, who did brilliantly to pull a firm low shot back across his body to send Meslier stooping to save, tipping the ball away with just enough force to prevent a tap in for Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

All in all it had been a cagey affair, typical of such an occasion, but the opening four minutes of the second period suggested a more open game was coming.

Edozie made his mark by breezing past Firpo and cutting the ball back for Stephens, whose low shot was crucially blocked, before Harwood-Bellis was forced into an equally important intervention at the other end to deny another central defender, Joe Rodon. When the ball was only half-cleared, Summerville sent a curling effort inches wide as McCarthy watched on.

Ryan Fraser produced a tireless display down the Saints left

But Leeds’s resurgence looked like being a false dawn, as Saints continued to keep the pre-match favourites at arm’s length.

There were counter-attack opportunities for Martin’s team too, with substitute Edozie proving to be a real handful.

It was he who beat the offside trap for the best chance of the second half midway through it, as Saints snatched possession just inside their own half and Joe Aribo’s pass freed Edozie, one on one with last defender Ampadu.

The winger dribbled into the box, inside on to his right foot and looked to curl one into the top corner but sent his shot a yard wide of the target.

Saints’ defensive discipline was given its greatest compliment when Championship Player of the Season Summerville was withdrawn on 74 minutes, by which time Daniel Farke had fresh faces on both wings in the shape of James and Jaidon Anthony.

For Saints, Adams replaced Fraser with 20 minutes left, moving Armstrong to the right wing and Edozie to the left, though Edozie was later sacrificed for Ryan Manning, as the substitute was substituted after receiving treatment.

Ché Adams made his return from injury as a second-half substitute to help Saints over the line

Saints were nearly there, but there was still time for a heart-stopping moment six minutes from time.

James cleverly traded passes on the edge of the box and instinctively rifled a dropping ball goalwards that crashed against the underside of the bar and bounced back into play.

With nine added minutes, the wait for the full-time whistle was excruciating, especially when McCarthy dived to his left to repel another well-struck James shot.

It would prove to be the last heart-in-mouth moment Saints would have to endure, as the final whistle prompted an eruption from one end of Wembley that overshadowed even the goal, as the club’s promotion was cemented in the history books thanks to that one swish of Adam Armstrong’s right foot.

Leeds: Meslier, Gray, Rodon, Ampadu (captain), Firpo (Joseph 83), Gruev, Kamara (Roberts 74), Gnonto (James 66), Rutter, Summerville (Anthony 74), Piroe.

Unused substitutes: Darlow, Cooper, Byram, Shackleton, Gelhardt.

Yellow cards: Summerville, Ampadu.

Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens (captain), Fraser (Adams 70), Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Brooks (Edozie 35, Manning 83), A Armstrong.

Unused substitutes: Lumley, Bree, Charles, Rothwell, Kamaldeen, Stewart.

Goals: A Armstrong (24’).

Yellow cards: Bednarek, Fraser, Harwood-Bellis, Adams, Downes.

Referee: John Brooks.

Attendance: 85,862.

Photos by Matt Watson and Isabelle Field.