Millwall were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Wigan on Tuesday night, following a cagey affair that saw Wigan take the lead twice against the hosts. Goals in either half from Shaun Hutchinson and Matt Smith enabled the hosts to cancel out goals from Wigan’s Anthony Pilkington and Antonee Robinson.
Strugglers
Millwall came into the fixture in fine form having lost just once in their last five league outings, following a narrow 1-0 victory over Swansea on the road this Saturday. The visitors came into the tie having slumped to a 2-1 defeat to relegation strugglers Stoke and in search of a first league victory in over a month.
Changes
Millwall made two changes from the victory in Wales with Republic of Ireland u21s captain Jayson Molumby returning to Gary Rowett’s side in place of Alex Pearce, after missing out through a hip flexor injury, joined by Tom Bradshaw who returned to lead the line in replacement of Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.
Wigan manager Paul Cook made three changes to the side that fell to defeat at the hands of Stoke at the weekend, as he looked to put an end to the unwanted streak. Chelsea loanee Dujon Sterling was drafted back into the side in replacement for Sam Byrne as Cook looked to tighten up the defence. Pilkington and Moore also earned recalls in place of Joe Williams and Gavin Massey respectively.
Early Pressure
The deadlock was broken after just three minutes thanks to early pressure from The Latics, as Anthony Pilkington found space on the right side of the box, he made use of the chance drilling the ball into the bottom left corner.
The visitors continued to press the home defence, as they looked to extend their lead to two, coming close on the seventh minute, following another good link up between Moore and Pilkington to open up the Millwall defence, but Pilkington dragged his shot just wide of the post.
Manic Five for Hutchinson
Millwall began to wake up after a dominant opening 10 minutes from Wigan, with The Lions lucky not to be down by two or three. Captain Shaun Hutchinson had to receive treatment for a cut to the head after 19 minutes, leaving Millwall with 10 men for a couple of minutes.
After receiving treatment on the side of the pitch, Hutchinson was cleared to re-enter the field of play. A fast attack down the right side of the pitch resulted in a corner for the home side, that was perfectly delivered by Jed Wallace onto the head of Hutchinson, completing a manic five minutes for the defender.
Dissent
The game began to open up towards the latter stages of the first half, as both sides looked to take the lead into the break. Surprisingly it wasn’t a player but Wigan manager Paul Cook who picked up the first booking of the game for dissent following a lengthy discussion with the referee and fourth official.
Wigan almost regained the lead with eight minutes left of the half, following a dangerous back post header from Wigan danger man Kieffer Moore that seemed destined for goal, only to be denied by a wonder-save from Millwall stopper Bartosz Bialkowski who was falling backwards. The first on pitch booking was handed to Wigan midfielder Lewis Macleod, following a heavy challenge from the Scotsman on Thompson.
Fast Start
One change was made for the second half, as Gary Rowett looked to Matt Smith to be the man to improve his side’s performance, as Mahoney gave way for his attacking counterpart following a disappointing half for the forward.
The second half began as the second half ended as both sides continued to push for the lead, and 10 minutes in Robinson was able to sneak it under Bialkowski to do just that and return the lead to the visitors. The Latics couldn’t hold on for long though as Millwall began to mount the pressure, just five minutes later Rowett’s half time substitution Matt Smith excellently met a cross from Williams to fire his side back level.
Latter Stages
The teams continued to push each other as chances fell to both sides to take the lead, but neither could capitalise on the chances. Both managers looked to the bench for an impact, with Cedric Kipre replacing Pilkington and Massey on for Moore for the visitors, and Jiri Skalak replacing Thompson for Millwall.
Wigan built up a good attack and looked certain to regain the lead for a third time following a headed effort that was cleared off the line by Millwall’s Hutchinson. With four minutes remaining both managers threw one more roll of the dice as Millwall’s Aiden O’Brien replaced Bradshaw and Josh Windass replaced Joe Garner for Cook’s side, but neither could make a late impact on the game.
What’s next?
The result sees Millwall climb up one place to 11th in the league on 25 points, whilst Wigan stay just above the drop zone in 21st on 16 points. Millwall travel to Birmingham on Saturday as they look to extend their three match unbeaten run.
Line Ups
Millwall: Bialkowski, M. Wallace, Hutchinson, Cooper, Williams, J. Wallace, Thompson, Bradshaw, Romeo, Molumby, Mahoney Subs: Steele, Pearce, Brown, Bodvarsson, Skalak, O’Brien, Smith
Wigan Athletic: Marshall, Robinson, Macleod, Morsy, Pilkington, Lowe, Garner, Sterling, Mulgrew, Moore, Dunkley Subs: Jones, Jacobs, Naismith, Gelhardt, Kipre, Windass, Massey
