Max O’Leary was Bristol City’s goalkeeping hero as they claimed a goalless draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
O’Leary made a series of superb first-half saves as Liam Manning’s side claimed their third clean sheet in a row.
Adil Aouchiche and Bradley Dack both hit the crossbar as Sunderland turned in a much-improved display from the Bank Holiday battering at the hands of Blackburn.
However, the Black Cats were unable to find a way past an inspired O’Leary and have now won just one of their last nine matches as their season peters out.
Sunderland were the better side from the outset, displaying a much greater degree of intensity and aggression than they had displayed in their 5-1 home defeat to Blackburn at the start of the week.
Dan Ballard thought he had claimed a ninth-minute opener when he headed goalwards after a corner was nodded back across goal, but O’Leary did superbly to claw the ball away.
Sunderland threatened again three minutes later, only for Aouchiche to stab wide from inside the area after Dan Neil’s blocked shot rebounded invitingly into his path.
Jack Clarke was back in the home side’s starting line-up for the first time in more than a month after recovering from an ankle injury and the winger went close midway through the first half as he fired in a side-footed strike that was parried by O’Leary.
The Bristol City goalkeeper was in inspired form for much of the afternoon, producing a brilliant double-save to ensure the scoresheet remained blank shortly after the half-hour mark.
His first save prevented Jobe Bellingham from firing home from inside the area and he then produced an even better stop to keep out Clarke’s follow-up effort.
Two minutes later and O’Leary was at it again. This time it was Neil who was denied initially, with the Robins keeper parrying the midfielder’s shot, and when Aouchiche nodded the rebound towards goal, O’Leary displayed superb reflexes to touch the ball onto the crossbar.
Bristol City had not threatened at all at that stage, but the visitors finally recorded their first effort at goal in first-half stoppage time.
Anthony Patterson parried Nakhi Wells’ angled shot and Scott Twine’s follow-up effort would have gone in had a backtracking Luke O’Nien not produced a crucial block from just in front of the goal-line.
Patterson was called into action again in the early stages of the second half, saving from Matty James after Haydon Roberts nodded a free-kick back across goal, but with the wind swirling around the Stadium of Light, neither side was especially fluent as they pressed to try to force a breakthrough.
That said, however, Sunderland came within inches of claiming a winner with 17 minutes left. Neil flicked on Trai Hume’s cross, enabling substitute Dack to power in a diving header that cannoned off the underside of the crossbar before rebounding to safety.
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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