Joel Asoro was left delighted as Sunderland under-23s secured their place in the final of the Premier League International Cup final on Friday at Carrow Road.
The Swede scored the all-important goal inside 13 minutes to defeat Norwich City, incisively going through on goal and making no mistake as he knocked the ball past an on rushing Aston Oxborough.
The Canaries, though, did have their chances and would’ve been level 20 minutes later had it not been for a heroic stop from Max Stryjek who denied Glenn Middleton.
Wave after wave of attacks crashed against the Black Cats rear-guard after that, but stopper Stryjek was in inspired form to deny the Canaries.
Speaking post-match, Asoro revealed the pride he felt in his team-mates’ achievement to become the first Sunderland side to reach a European final.
“My main aim is always to help the team and score goals,” he said.
“I’m very happy because it is always good to score goals and especially in games like this where you can reach a final.
“My goal was the winning goal and that makes me happier – it is a great achievement for a club and all the lads deserve so much credit.
“It means everything to reach the final,” he continued. “Elliott (Dickman) said before we went out to get into the final and that’s exactly what we did.
“We worked hard, it wasn’t easy but we got through it and that makes me very pleased.”
