MILLWALL have been left hovering just above the relegation zone after an underwhelming defeat to Cardiff.
Defender Dimitrios Goutas headed home from a corner with just 13 minutes to go to condemn the Lions to back-to-back defeats on the road.
Where the 3-1 loss at Ipswich was a mess from a Millwall perspective, on this occasion they simply lost a low-quality game where neither team did particularly much in front of goal.
The Lions arguably edged the contest until the final 20 minutes when out-of-form Cardiff finally got going.
Their victory – coupled with Queens Park Rangers’s 2-0 win over Hull City at Loftus Road – mean the Lions are now just two points above the bottom three.
They have now also only won one of their last 10 games.
A poor match saw almost nothing happen in the first half in the Welsh capital.
While last week’s game against Sunderland also took a while to get going, there was something of an intensity to it before Nisbet’s goal and some interesting sub-plots developing all over the pitch.
But at the Cardiff City Stadium there was nothing even close to it, with neither side threatening to hurt the other. When the votes are tallied at the end of the season for the most awful half of football in 2023/24, this one will have a shout.
Murray Wallace and Allan Campbell both received medical attention after clashes with Perry Ng and Karlan Grant respectively.
In terms of goal mouth action, it took until stoppage time for either keeper – including the returning Lions stopper Matija Sarkic – to have anything to do.
Arsenal loanee Runar Runarsson had to get down to his left to make a comfortable save from a Nisbet toe-poke after Ryan Leonard sent a low ball across the box. The Scottish forward was stretching to reach the cross, contributing to his uncharacteristically limp finish.
He then combined with Wes Harding to spark a counter-attack from the halfway line but the offside flag thwarted the scheming of the two summer signings.
Events livened up in the second half as the two sides began exchanging half chances.
The best came early and for Millwall. Six minutes after we restarted, Flemming had a free header from a corner that he looped onto the roof of the net. He will know he should have tested the keeper at least. Minutes later, Nisbet won a free-kick on the edge of the box that he flashed past the post.
Cardiff began the half very sloppily and the home fans made their frustration clear. The Bluebirds responded.
Half-time sub Yakou Meite blasted over after the hour and Kion Etete then volleyed over just a few seconds after he came off the bench.
The warning signs were there by the time the goal came 13 minutes from time. Goutas somehow managed to get his head onto Joe Ralls corner despite being in the middle of a Millwall scrum.
His header wasn’t particularly fierce but it was awkward for Sarkic, who got a glove onto the ball before seeing it sneak through his hands in a moment he will regret. Frustrated looks were exchanged between the players and there was a feeling that three or four of them could have done something to stop an incredibly preventable goal.
Millwall had chances to get level. Substitute Tom Bradshaw managed to keep the ball in play as it rolled towards the byline and pulled it back in for Watmore, but he could only nudge it tamely at the keeper.
Aidomo Emakhu also looked sharp off the bench and caused issues in the final minutes but his decision-making let him down when he had space in the final third, crossing when he should have shot and shooting when he should have crossed during his first two big moments.
And then came a third moment four minutes into stoppage time. Millwall won a free-kick on the edge of the D and, in a sign of how highly his teammates rate him, it was left to the 20-year-old substitute to try and conjure up a memorable moment on a dark and windy afternoon.
The tension built and built before Emakhu hit an effort that pinged off multiple Cardiff players before it was eventually cleared.
Credit must go to Bluebirds boss Erol Bulut who managed to energise his team with his second half subs and they are now outside the top six only on goal difference.
Meanwhile the Lions will need to find inspiration from somewhere as it’s a trip to league leaders Leicester City next.
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Cardiff: 4-2-3-1: Runarsson; Ng, Goutas, McGuinness, Collins; Wintle (c) (Ralls 70′), Siopis (Adams 89′); Bowler (Etete 70′), Robinson (Colwill 46′), Grant; Ugbo (46′).
Millwall: 4-2-3-1: Sarkic; Leonard, Harding, Hutchinson (c), Wallace; Campbell, Mitchell; Norton-Cuffy, Flemming (Watmore 70′), Longman (Emakhu 82′); Nisbet (Bradshaw 70′).
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Attendance: 19,426 (835)