A Martin Cranie own goal and a Connor Mahoney strike in the second-half secured all three points for Millwall on Tuesday night as they rounded out 2-0 winners against Luton Town.
The Lions were much the better side in the first-half and should have been ahead sooner than they were. Chances were few and far between for the home side in the second-half, but Mahoney, on only his second league start of the season clinched all three points for the South-London side with an emphatic finish from the edge of the box with just 11 minutes remaining. The Hatters retained the ball much better in the second-half, but failed to pose any real threat to the hosts goal.
Starting Eleven
Millwall made just one change from the team that beat Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park on Saturday with Mason Bennett returning to the squad, replacing Tom Bradshaw who dropped to the bench.
Hatters’ boss Nathan Jones made two changes from the side that lost at home to Stoke City with Jordan Clark and Kazenga LuaLua coming into the fray.
Nothing More Than They Deserved
The first real shot of the game came from the home side as Mahoney’s right-foot effort was claimed easily by Simon Sluga.
Three minutes later, some good work down the right-hand side saw Jed Wallace find Bennett on the edge of the box, whom with a neat backheel found Ryan Leonard in space. Unfortunately, he dragged his shot wide of the post.
Jake Cooper was the next player to try his luck at the Hatters’ goal, but he saw his header sail wide of the post from Mahoney’s cross. The visitors first shot of the game fell at the feet of Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu on the edge of the area, but his effort sailed over the bar.
Some nice overlapping from Murray Wallace dragged the Luton left-back away from Mahoney who found himself with a few yards of space down the left-hand side. He crossed the ball towards the back post where Matt Smith was, but his effort rebounded off the post.
The ball broke to Wallace whose half-volley was caught easily by Sluga.
With 36 minutes on the clock, Mahlon Romeo got down the right-hand side after some neat play with Wallace before putting in a low cross to the penalty spot where Mahoney was waiting. He lashed his right-foot at the ball, but completely missed it.
The ball broke to Wallace who couldn’t fire a clear shot at goal as the rebound found his namesake Wallace, whose left-footed effort went wide of the goal.
Mahoney was at the centre of the Lions attack again soon after as he cut-in on his right and fired a low shot off on goal. Sluga got down well and parried the ball wide.
The hosts continued to press and found themselves with a run of four corners in first-half stoppage time. The first three were defended well by the visitors but on the fourth, Mahoney’s cross found Smith at the back post.
Using his strength, Smith muscled off the couple of Luton Town defenders surrounding him and headered the ball across the face of goal. Under pressure from Cooper, Cranie struck out his left leg, steering the ball past Sluga who was left stranded.
It was nothing more than the hosts deserved as they went in 1-0 up at the break.
Mahoney At The Forefront
The Lions should have doubled their lead five minutes after the interval, when Bennett found Wallace in the penalty area who lashed his effort wide of the goal from just 10-yards out.
The visitors were having much more of the ball in the second-half but were up against a resilient Lions defence. Substitute Joe Morrell saw his strike whistle wide of the goal on the hour-mark before LuaLua lashed his effort wide of Bart Bialkowski’s post.
Just second before, the hosts could have doubled their lead again after some great play down the left between Mahoney, Wallace and substitute Scott Malone, with the latter putting the ball across the six-yard box with no Millwall player making a late run to get in there.
After winning the ball back, the Lions broke down the left-hand side with Mahoney yet again at the forefront of the attack. He struck his effort across the goal where it cannoned off the far post before nestling into the far corner, doubling the hosts lead.
The visitors were nearly gifted a lifeline when Cranie poked an effort towards goal, only for Bialkowski to scramble across the goal and get a firm left-hand to parry the ball to safety.
The Lions hung-on to secure all three league points and secure their first home league win of the campaign.
‘It’s All About Us Building’
Garry Rowett was delighted with his team’s performance but admitted it’s now ‘about translating that good play into more attacking moments in games.’
“I thought it was an excellent performance. When you’ve played so well as we did in the second half on Saturday, you’ve got to back it up,” admitted Rowett. “Good teams do that, they put back-to-back performances together and that’s what I asked the players to do.
“We’re six games in – we went to fourth but could have gone to 14th if we’d lost.
“It’s about us building, we’ve been defensively excellent for the 12 months, now it’s about translating that good play into more attacking moments in games.”
Millwall have another home game this Saturday against Barnsley and will be eager to make it three wins in a row.
