LONDON — Hull City was one Wembley final away from a return to the English Premier League after ending Millwall’s hopes with a 2-0 away win in the Championship playoff semi-final second-leg.
Second-half substitute Mohamed Belloumi broke the deadlock at The Den, after the first leg in Hull ended 0-0 last week, when the winger curled a 64th-minute stunner into the far corner, Reuters reported.
The goal shocked Millwall, who finished the season third overall and missed out on automatic promotion by one point to Ipswich Town while Coventry City clinched the title, and Belloumi was not done yet.
He made the run and fed the ball through to Leeds United loanee Joe Gelhardt to score the second in the 79th – a minute after he came on – with goalkeeper Anthony Patterson getting a hand to the ball but unable to stop it trickling over the line.
Hull became the first second-tier team since Derby County in 2018-19 to reach the Wembley Championship playoff final after finishing the season sixth.
Millwall had been seeking a return to the top flight for the first time since 1990, while Hull last secured promotion to the Premier League in 2016 and were relegated again the following season.
The playoff final, dubbed the ‘richest game in football’ as the gateway to Premier League wealth, will be held at Wembley on May 23.
Southampton and Middlesbrough play the other semifinal second leg on Tuesday after also ending the first match goalless.
