Millwall lost away to Blackburn Rovers 2-1, courtesy of a deflected strike from Championship top goal scorer, Adam Armstrong, in the first minute of stoppage time, sealing the game for Rovers and giving them their fourth win in five league games.
Armstrong’s 14th goal of the season drops Millwall into 14th place, a position that will only add to the lingering doubt inside The Den of any potential playoff hopes.
Rover’s victory keeps them sitting pretty at ninth place, and with their recent run of form it would be no surprise to see them climb the table as they chase sixth position and a coveted playoff spot.
This game was being treated by both teams as a must win match, with each side seemingly taking turns firing at goal, ending with a combined 37 shots as the full-time whistle blew.
Shooting Boots Off?
The number of shots at goal should tell you all you need to know about how open and fluid this fixture was; seemingly destined to be a classic Championship clash. However, both sides struggled to find a cutting edge – combining for an abysmal nine shots on target.
The first sight of a goal came for Blackburn when Liverpool loanee and overnight hero, Harvey Elliot, struck with his left foot from outside the box, an attempt that was well dealt with by Millwall stopper, Bartosz Bialkowski.
A dynamic that has started to build for Rovers over their last few fixtures is the combination play between Elliot and Armstrong, something that was on display at full effect in the 25th minute of play.
Youngster Elliott Delivers…
Pouncing on the counterattack, Armstrong would slip a ball through to the overlapping 17-year-old, perfectly dispatching a curling first time left footed strike into the top corner and leaving Bialkowski with no chance of getting a hand to it.
Jed Wallace would start to pile pressure onto the home side. Despite fashioning himself three opportunities at goal within the space of two minutes, the Rovers back line would not falter, throwing themselves in the way of every potential equaliser.
…But Malone Makes It All Square
As the pressure started to build it appeared as though the defensive resilience shown from Blackburn was starting to wane, and this is just what happened as Wallace seized on the opportunity to turn creator, delivering a ball straight into the path of Scott Malone who finished with aplomb.
Second half action would get underway at Ewood Park with both teams starting to throw their bodies on the line, blocking shots left, right and centre – something had to give.
Immediate Impact
Fortunes would start to change for Rovers after manager, Tony Mowbray, made a substitution in the 57th minute of play, replacing the injured, Ben Brereton, with sharp youngster, Tyrhys Dolan.
Dolan wouldn’t take long to impress, picking up the ball and using his bag of tricks to take on his defender, coming close to scoring in the 70th minute of play off of a very tight angle.
Parrott A Positive
Despite the loss, Lions fans would have been pleased by the performance of Troy Parrott as he searches for full match fitness, showing some promising signs with his movement and bursts of pace in behind the oppositions line – completing 78 minutes of play before being subbed off for Tom Bradshaw.
Fouls and tiredness really started to become a factor in the latter stages of the game, with both defences starting to look exhausted and the bodies that were once being put on the line started to leave legs out, giving away needless fouls.
Home Side Knuckle Down
With the 90th minute approaching it was Rovers that started to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Veteran, Stuart Downing, would hammer a shot towards goal in the first minute of stoppage time from the left-hand side of the box, blocked again by the slowly deteriorating Lions defence in the last moment of the game before heartbreak struck.
As the ball started pinballing with a deflection around the edge of Millwall’s box, the ball went up into the air, tension building as the ball started its rapid decline to the ground, dropping perfectly to the most potent boot on the whole pitch, Armstrong.
Clinical Rovers
One chance would be all Adam Armstrong needed to settle the game and give his side all three points, riding his goal scoring luck as the ball deflected painfully into the back of the net.
Rowett would send on fresh legs in the third minute of stoppage time, overloading the oppositions box and swinging in high-arching crosses, searching for a chance at a fairy-tale late comeback.
The final whistle signalled the end of that dream, instead leaving Millwall in something of a nightmare state.
With zero wins in their last seven fixtures and with pressure building for results, it’s clear that something drastic needs to happen at Millwall before they find themselves slipping even further down the table.
