MILLWALL are still searching for their first win since New Year’s Day after falling to a narrow defeat to Hull City.
The Lions begun the game poorly and conceded to Jaden Philogene only five minutes into the match. It looked like Joe Edwards’ side could be on the end of a heavy beating as they struggled to deal with Hull’s thrust and energy in the opening periods.
But the Lions did get better the longer the game went on even if the chances they carved out weren’t necessarily the type that would have had Hull fans too worried.
The gradual improvement is little consolation in a league where results ultimately mean everything. Wins for Queens Park Rangers against Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town against Sheffield Wednesday mean Millwall are once again looking over their shoulders.
They sit now just five points clear of the bottom three and have promotion contenders Coventry City and Ipswich Town up next while Hull have climbed back into the play-off places.
Both Hull and Millwall are part of the now large contingent of Championship sides who are keen to have possession and dictate the match.
So you imagine both sets of players would have been unimpressed with the state of the MKM Stadium pitch, which was surely the worst the Lions have played on this season.
But after only five minutes it was clear Millwall had far bigger things to worry about than the grass beneath their feet.
The Tigers took control and got off to an aggressive, in-your-face start that the visitors could not handle. This was best exemplified by debutant Anass Zaroury, who signed on loan from Burnley, crashing a volley onto the crossbar after Wes Harding sloppily gave away the ball on the edge of the box.
The rebound fell for Philogene, back after an eight game absence from injury, to slot home after five minutes. He also scored against Millwall in the 2-2 draw at The Den in October.
It was a rampant opening spell for Liam Rosenior’s side who hadn’t played in 15 days and were boosted by new signings. But their dominance was helped by Millwall’s wayward passing as they repeatedly gave away the ball while in possession at the back. It was arguably the first time you could really accuse the Lions of overplaying while Edwards has been in charge and they had picked the wrong place to do it.
Hull mercifully took their foot off the gas and didn’t actually threaten Matija Sarkic for the rest of the half, but they were far better on the ball and hardly gave Millwall a sniff.
Eventually the away side worked out that they would have to start going long and small openings began to present themselves with Zian Flemming knocking the ball down to Michael Obafemi on the edge of the box but it came to nothing. Obafemi, who was taken off at half-time for Tom Bradshaw, struggled to make any impact on his first Millwall start.
There was another long ball forward to Flemming which caused defender Jacob Greaves to crash into keeper Ryan Allsop in a rare moment of Hull looking uncomfortable. Flemming was harshly judged to have pushed the defender and a foul was given.
Murray Wallace threatened to spring on the counter-attack at the end of the 45 but was taken out by Philogene.
In terms of positives, that was about it for Millwall in a half where they failed to register a single shot. They could take comfort from the fact that Hull, despite being the far better side, had not actually tested Sarkic since Philogene’s goal.
It was an improved start to the second half for Edwards’ side who showed a bit more aggression and self-belief as they tried to take the game to the hosts.
But it continued to be a noticeably difficult afternoon for Brooke Norton-Cuffy, who mishit crosses a few times and cut a figure of frustration when the ball ran beyond his foot and out of play just after the hour mark.
He would be subbed off as part of five personnel switches Edwards’ made before the 70th minute and Millwall’s performance did gradually improve in part thanks to the changes.
A big chance emerged after 68 minutes as Casper De Norre, making his first start since November, released Flemming who tried to chip Allsop from 25 yards out. The Hull keeper was well off his line and would have been helpless if the 25-year-old’s shot had not dropped onto the roof of the net.
A minute later, substitute Romain Esse managed to break free on the right-hand side of the box and dragged a ball in which Bradshaw attempted to backheel home but failed to summon the direction or power on the effort.
With 15 minutes to go, Millwall had quietly managed to wrestle control of the game away from Hull who have been in inconsistent form of late.
But only one serious chance would arrive late in the game as birthday boy Jake Cooper nodded a ball down for Bradshaw after a long ball in the box. The Welshman could not find the connection he would have desired with his shot and it went straight into Allsop’s gloves just seconds before the final whistle rang out at the MKM Stadium.
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Hull: 4-2-3-1: Allsop; Coyle (c), Jones, Greaves, Giles; Morton, Slater; Philogene, Carvalho (Docherty 90+2′), Zaroury (Ohio 74′); Tufan (Jacob 88′).
Millwall: 3-4-2-1: Sarkic; Tanganga, Harding, Cooper (c); Norton-Cuffy (McNamara 66′), De Norre, Saville (Honeyman 59′), Wallace (Bryan 59′); Watmore (Esse 66′), Flemming; Obafemi (Bradshaw 66′).
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Attendance: 21,486 (665 away)