Millwall controlled the tempo of the game as they dominated the ball for vast periods of the first half and the SE16 side almost took the lead through Jed Wallace who tried to latch onto a loose ball but was unfortunately beaten to it by Barnsley goalkeeper Jack Walton. However, the opening 44 minutes of the first half was quite lacklustre with both sides struggling to break down each other’s defences.
Two Goals In Quick Succession
All of a sudden, there was a frantic end to the half when the Tykes took an unlikely lead with a moment of individual brilliance from Alex Mowatt. The Barnsley midfielder hit a sweetly struck dipping effort on the half volley into the top right-hand corner of the net from just outside the box, giving the Millwall goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski no chance of stopping it following a poor headed clearance by Lions defender Jake Cooper. Three minutes later, Cooper atoned for his error and equalised for the hosts just on the stroke of half time by calmly nodding in a header following a well taken corner by Connor Mahoney and leave the score level at the interval.
Lions On The Front Foot
The Lions started the second half on the front foot and almost completed the comeback in the 58th minute when Mahlon Romeo’s excellent whipped cross found Mason Bennett whose volleyed effort was expertly saved onto the post by Walton.
The home team were then denied again by the woodwork when Scott Malone’s looping header from Bennett’s lobbed cross hit the top of the crossbar.
Bialkowski had a relatively quite afternoon as he did not have much to deal with until he was caught into action to prevent a 35-yard curling free kick from Herbie Kane and make a stunning save which looked to be sneaking into the top left hand corner.
The Lions thought that they had won it at the end through Kenneth Zohore, but his header was superbly kept out by Walton.
A Tale Of Two Halves
Millwall assistant manager Adam Barrett was left feeling frustrated with his team’s result as he reflects on the Lions 1-1 draw with the Tykes.
“The second half was frustrating because I thought we did enough to win the game. I thought we were disappointing in the first half, I thought we played into their hands,” admitted Barrett. “They were very aggressive in the press and I thought we turned the ball over too cheaply.”
Barrett acknowledged: “But I thought the second half was a much better performance, we played with a lot more purpose and created some good chances.”
“Seven points from the three games. It’s a great return, you can’t get greedy. We’re delighted with the week that we’ve had and we move on from there now.”
Next Up
Millwall now sit 7th in the EFL Championship with 12 points from their first seven games. The Lions will be eager to get back to winning ways as they will look to impress manager Gary Rowett who recently tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. The SE16 side will now travel away to 10th placed Preston North End on Wednesday evening who are still yet to win a home game this season.
