By Jake Sanders at The Den
GRANT Hall’s first-half own goal gave Millwall a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough at The Den on Saturday afternoon.
The Boro centre-back inadvertently turned home Jed Wallace’s 31st-minute cross to earn the Lions their fourth home win in the league in 2021.
Millwall remain 10th, though they’ve moved two points closer to the play-offs, but would appear out of the race with just eight games remaining and a 10-point gap to Reading.
Match details
Moments after Mason Bennett fired straight at Marcus Bettinelli, the on-loan Fulham goalkeeper almost gifted Millwall an opener when his scuffed clearance landed straight at the feet of Billy Mitchell, but his effort lacked power, which allowed Bettinelli to save with his feet.
On 20 minutes Wallace thought he was through on goal after robbing Marc Bola on the halfway line, forcing the Middlesbrough defender to bring him down. Fortunately for the visitors, Dael Fry was covering, which meant the former Arsenal man escaped with a yellow card.
In the 28th minute, Wallace went through on goal from a perfectly-weighted pass from his striker partner, Bennett, but Bettinelli pulled off a fine save down low to his left.
Three minutes later the Lions did get the goal their encouraging first-half display deserved. The impressive Wallace broke away down the left, leaving Johnny Howson behind, before galloping into the box and crossing into a dangerous area which forced Hall to turn the ball into his own net from almost under his own crossbar.
Just before half-time Gary Rowett’s team should have gone further ahead when the influential Wallace produced a glorious first-time pass to put Danny McNamara into the clear. However, the defender lacked composure and passed up the opportunity to bag his first Millwall goal by dragging agonisingly wide of the far post.
Despite their dominance, the Lions were caught napping at the other end, and were fortunate that Yannick Bolasie was unable to hit the target following Marvin Johnson’s cut-back.
Neil Warnock reacted to Middlesbrough’s poor first-half showing with three attacking changes, but it was one he made just before the break in ex-Lion George Saville that almost resulted in an equaliser. Luckily for Millwall, his left-footed drive was beaten away by Bartosz Bialkowski.
Millwall were forced into plenty of defending in the second half, but Paddy McNair’s strike that was straight at Bialkowski was the only other time the Pole was tested after the interval.
Up the other end, substitute Jon Dadi Bodvarsson almost made the points safe for Millwall, but his sweetly-struck volley was tipped over by Bettinelli after he had been picked out superbly by Scott Malone.
It mattered little, however, as the hosts held on for the three points and registered their 15th clean sheet of the campaign.
Millwall have little to play for – but no signs of complacency
We’re heading towards that stage of the season when there’s a cluster of sides that have little tangible to play for.
Millwall are one of those, but while Rowett’s side were simply not at the races during the second-half period at QPR, they were absolutely outstanding here.
They got in front in the opening period and could have been further ahead. They then defended for their lives in the second half to keep yet another shut-out.
Rowett’s Millwall might not be as good technically as some sides in the Championship, but if the league was won on heart, fight, and desire, they’d be champions.
This victory saw the Lions move 10 points behind sixth-place Reading, though that would seem too big a gap to make up, meaning another top-10 finish is the aim.
This win went some way to doing that.
Murray Wallace recalled and for good reason
Following another busy week on their travels, Rowett freshened up his side after their collapse in west London.
Wallace was one of those recalled, and after captain Alex Pearce’s struggles against QPR, it was bound to happen. He doesn’t offer the same leadership qualities as Pearce in terms of how vocal he is, but Millwall are simply a better side when the Scot is playing.
Usually, when he’s fit, he starts.
Pearce won’t want to look back on any of QPR’s three goals, and with the upcoming international break providing Wallace with extra time to prove his fitness following his injury, the former Scunthorpe defender should now slot back in regularly between Shaun Hutchinson and Jake Cooper, meaning Pearce’s opportunities might be limited as his contract runs down.
Team news
Rowett made three changes to the side that were beaten at QPR on Wednesday as McNamara, making his first start since 2 February, Murray Wallace and Mitchell replaced Mahlon Romeo, Pearce and Ben Thompson.
Meanwhile, Connor Mahoney was back in the match-day squad for the first time since November.
5-3-2: Bialkowski; McNamara (Romeo 87′), Hutchinson, M Wallace, Cooper, Malone (Pearce 87′); Mitchell, Evans, Woods (Williams 81′); J Wallace (Bradshaw 81′), Bennett (Bodvarsson 64′).
Subs: Fielding, Ferguson, Mahoney, Burey.
Image: Millwall FC