Brennan Johnson puts Lincoln City one foot into the EFL League One Play-Off Final

The 19-year-old alongside attacking partner Tom Hopper were on target as the Imps ran out 2-0 victors at the LNER Stadium against Sunderland.

Brennan Johnson, Hopper, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Scully and Jorge Grant were all heavily involved in creating the attacks throughout the 90 minutes in Lincolnshire, and they all put on a fantastic and professional performance.

The Nottingham Forest loanee scored his 13th goal of the season in the process and it was a vital goal for the Imps.

Sunderland goalkeeper, Lee Burge, received the ball and looked to clear it up field but instead fired it against the youngster who had the simple task of scoring into an empty net.

Speaking exclusively to Prost International’s Adrian Kita, Johnson was delighted to get the goal and to celebrate with the fans who attended the game at the LNER Stadium.

“It was a great game and as soon as the ball went into the back of the net I heard the roar from the fans and it was an amazing feeling.

“It is massive to have the fans back. We’ve missed them all season and it has been hard not being able to play in front of them. There’s a lot of players here who signed in the summer so they’ve not actually had the chance to play in front of them but they gave us a massive boost and it was good to have them here”.

Johnson could have had a brace if it wasn’t for his shot in the 35th minute hitting the post and bouncing back into play.

The Nottingham-born player had a part to play in creating the first goal which resulted in Tom Hopper opening the scoring for the Imps.

Clever footwork from the 19-year-old saw him turn his marker and play a ball into the path of Anthony Scully. The winger found Jorge Grant in the middle who had his shot saved by Burge. Moments later, the ball was recycled and the midfielder found Hopper at the back post who tapped the ball in from close range.

Sunderland did have chances and could have scored on a couple of occasions throughout the match. Lynden Gooch had the real dangerous chance and it came near the end of the first-half as his shot whistled past Josef Bursik’s right post.

Aidan McGeady had an excellent chance in stoppage time as he had the ball at his feet inside the area but also failed to hit the target.

Jordan Jones would be the first to test the abilities of Bursik as he fired his shot from outside the box. The Imps’ shot-stopper did well to keep it out by tipping the effort onto the crossbar.

Two more efforts from McGeady were saved well by the emergency loanee as he kept a clean sheet on his first Lincoln appearance.

This result sets up the second-leg at the Stadium of Light to be a potential catch-up job from Lee Johnson’s men after a horrid time in Lincolnshire.

Brennan Johnson said that the side cannot stop there and rest on their laurels as the Black Cats are a dangerous side and easily flip the tie on its head.

“We’ve defintely got to be brave and we can’t sit off because they’ve got good players. If we give them too much time, they’ll do what they do best. So we have to play to our game plan and play the football that we know we can play to hopefully get a good result”.

The second-leg of this tie comes in only a couple of days time on Saturday and both sides will be hungry to reach the Play-Off Final.

Lincoln have the two-goal advantage and that may be enough to see them over the line, but do not count Sunderland out just yet, as they will be playing in front of their fans during this upcoming game at the Stadium of Light.

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