LONDON -- A 95th-minute Oli McBurnie strike saw Hull City edge past Middlesbrough in the Championship playoff final and earn the coveted final spot in the promised land of the Premier League next season.
Middlesbrough were given a playoff reprieve after their opponents and semifinal victors Southampton were booted out for spying but Kim Hellberg's side couldn't make the opportunity count.
The first half was typical of a playoff final with the scorching London heat making for a cagey affair. Two hydration breaks within 10 minutes of each other didn't help either as those inside Wembley were treated to a World Cup preview.
The second half brought much of the same with the 'Spygate' disruption to both of these sides' preparation evident and contributing to a final that had to wait until stoppage time to see its first moment of note.
Boro keeper Sol Brynn failed to clear his lines from a cross and McBurnie was waiting in the box to tap home and send Boro back to the top-flight for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Boro have never won a match at Wembley and their excruciating wait will go on for another season.
The Championship playoff final was a tough watch
After an all-timer week of 'Spygate' infused buildup, the actual playoff final itself failed to live up to all its newfound attention.
Two teams whose preparation had been decimated by Southampton's initial spying and subsequent expulsion faced each other on an afternoon where Wembley was nearing 30 degrees celsius -- the outcome could be seen a mile away.
There were no shots on target until the 61st minute and by the time we reached the 70th minute, the ball had only been in play for 44. It was far from a classic.
Hull's happiness to play second-fiddle and sit back for large parts didn't help either with their own supporters voicing their frustrations. Little did they know what would occur right at the death.
It was Boro's support, all 35,984 of them, who had only found out they would be making the near five-hour trip down on Wednesday, who kept the playoff final feel alive in front of a drab showing on the pitch. They were characteristically vocal throughout and when they saw Championship Player of the Season Hayden Hackney warming up in the second half, the cheers were loud. When he came on to end a two-month injury layoff, the cheers, followed by a rousing rendition of "Hayden Hackney, he's one of our own," were even louder.
But not even the Boro faithful could spring a tame game into life that only got more strained the longer it went goalless.
Two water breaks within 10 minutes of each other in the first half followed by another in the second failed to help the flow of the game too, but they were needed on a scorching day and served perhaps as a preview to what we will see in this summer's World Cup.
When eight minutes of additional time to the 90 were read out, instead of cheers of belief from both ends it preceded grimaces. A telling reaction. But what came next was a McBurnie goal that saw the Tigers leave the Championship behind them and the Boro players drop to the turf in the type of desolation that only the playoffs can provide.
Oli McBurnie has the final say
It had to be him, right?
A week after being snubbed by Steve Clarke and missing out on a spot in Scotland's World Cup squad, Ollie McBurnie drilled home the richest goal in football. Not a bad response.
In the fifth minute of eight added on, Hull found some room down the left and did something they hadn't done all day -- get the ball into the mixer with intensity.
Brynn couldn't clear his lines and there was McBurnie to coolly slot home. Cue wild celebrations and a yellow for taking his shirt off right in front of the Boro fans. The playoff final had taken exactly 95 minutes to set alight but it was alive now with thousands of black and orange flags now taking over Wembley.
He would've traded every one of his 17 goals and eight assists in the regular season for this one, a strike that will see him go down in Hull folklore and just maybe give Clarke a slight twang of regret.
- EFL slams 'deplorable' Southampton for pressuring staff to spy
- Spygate explainer: Why Southampton were booted from playoffs
- Heartbroken Boro boss slams Southampton for "disgraceful" spy scandal
'Winner' Sergej Jakirović leads Hull glory
When Sergej Jakirović took over as Hull boss last summer, he took the reins of a side that had just avoided relegation to League One by the skin of their teeth, on goal difference with Luton Town going down. Now he is in charge of a Premier League side.
To add to the magnitude of the job he has done, they were also handed a transfer embargo for making late payments to other clubs, meaning he was only able to bring in players on free transfers (notably matchwinner McBurnie) and a handful of loan deals.
At the beginning of the campaign Jakirović said himself that a 10th-15th placed finish would meet expectations and yet they found themselves victors at the home of football on Saturday, capping off a monumental season against the odds.
Jakirović said in midweek that he had purchased 70 tickets for the final. "Glad [to get the tickets], happy all my family and friends will be here so now I must do my job," he said.
Those tickets will now surely be one his most memorable purchases, he has overseen a huge success. His players have labelled him a winner and he has dragged this Hull side to the top-flight.
Add on top of all of that that he has been forced to prepare to play two very different sides, a sidenote in the 'Spygate' scandal, so becoming the first side to finish sixth and go up in the playoffs in 16 years looks all that more impressive.
Such is the cut-throat nature of this game, that attention will now immediately turn to preparation for next year, where Jakirovic said in midweek that replicating Sunderland is the aim.
Key Stats
-- Each of the last 4 teams that won the Championship promotion final match had fewer than 10 shots.
-- Hull return to the Premier League for the first time since 2016-17.
-- Hull are the first team to finish sixth in the Championship and win promotion to the Premier League since Blackpool in 2009-10.
-- This is the second straight playoff final to have featured a game-winning goal in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time; Last season, Tom Watson scored the late winner for Sunderland.
-- Hull have won each of their three Championship playoff final appearances (also in 2008 and 2016).
ESPN Global Research contributed to this report.