Leeds United won the English Championship with goal difference, Hull City reverses relegation and stages a desperate escape

On May 3, the last round of the 2024-25 Championship League ended. Leeds United narrowly defeated Plymouth 2-1 with Solomon's final goal in stoppage time, and finally defeated Burnley with a goal difference advantage. At the same time, four teams, Coventry, Bristol City, Sheffield United and Sunderland, will compete for the last place to be promoted to the Premier League. Luton ranked third from the bottom with a goal difference disadvantage, and dropped into the League One with Plymouth and Cardiff City.

In the relegation battle, Hull City drew 1-1 against Portsmouth, scoring a key 1 point, and thrillingly overwhelmed Luton, who was 5-3 by West Brom, with a goal difference advantage, and successfully relegated. This is Hull City's miracle of relegation again after the 2019-20 season. It is worth mentioning that Luton conceded 78 goals in the season, setting a record for the most goals conceded by the relegated team since the 46 rounds of the Championship was implemented. The bad defense ended up being punished.

Coventry continued its strong performance, defeating its direct competitor Middlesbrough 2-0, and locked in the second consecutive year to upgrade the playoffs, while the defeated Middlesbrough slipped from the playoffs to 10th place. Bristol City scored two goals in a row under the adversity of being 0-2 at home, drew with Preston 2-2, locking the last place in the upgraded play-off, causing Blackburn, who was away from Sheffield United, to fail. Although Japanese forward Yuki Obaki opened the first record for Blackburn, Ahmetovic's equalizer goal after 9 minutes finally blocked the Rovitt army outside the playoff goal.

The finale of the Championship this season has set several records. Leeds United and Burnley became the first match against the top and runner-up in league history to score 100 points, while Sheffield United forward Sharp won the Golden Boot with 27 goals, tying the local player goal record held by Nugent in the 2004-05 season. It is worth noting that this is the first time in the history of the English Championship that four play-off teams (Shefei United, Sunderland, Coventry, and Bristol City) all adopt the tactical wonder of the three-center-back system. The semi-final match of the

Upgrade playoffs will be held from May 9 to 14, adopting the traditional home and away double round-robin system. According to official English Championship data, the average of 2.87 goals per game this season hit a record high in the past 15 years, and the full introduction of VAR technology has led to a 37% increase in the number of penalty kicks over the same period last year, which will continue in the upgraded play-offs.