MILLWALL conceded twice in four catastrophic second half minutes to fall to defeat away at Coventry City.
Mistakes by Japhet Tanganga and Matija Sarkic proved critical and undid all the great work the Lions had put in during the first half, when they went toe-to-toe with play-off chasing Coventry and took the lead through Romain Esse.
The 18-year-old was making just his second league start of the season but showed off his quality in a wonderful first half performance, where Millwall also had chances to double their lead.
But Coventry were always well in this game and, having missed big opportunities of their own to score, capitalised on defensive errors in the second half to move back into sixth in the Championship. Haji Wright converted a penalty he won off a clumsy Tanganga tackle before netting a second three minutes later as he squeezed a shot by Sarkic.
As for Millwall and Joe Edwards, it was a similar story to what we have seen a few times now with the Lions side showing ability and goal threat but also missing chances and failing to put the whole performance together over 90 minutes.
They are now winless in six matches, four points off the relegation zone and welcome wobbling Ipswich Town to The Den on Wednesday night.
Millwall took around 60 minutes to look like a proper team last week at Hull City but needed less than 60 seconds to appear dangerous today in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
A throw-in chucked into the area by Tanganga deflected its way through to George Honeyman, who from close range slammed a shot into the chest of keeper Brad Collins.
That set the tone for a belting first 20 minutes of football at the CBS Arena where the two sides exchanged blows and played as if the first goal would win the game.
Coventry were unlucky not to get it after five minutes when Tatsuhiro Sakamoto sent a shot goal-bound that led to a scramble from a yard out that only the combined efforts of Tanganga, Sarkic and the goalkeeper’s left-hand post managed to keep out.
A twisting and turning Michael Obafemi then had his first real chance at goal on his third Lions appearance as he thumped a shot that Collins had to steer wide at the other end.
And then came Esse’s glorious moment to give Millwall the lead. The teenager had started well in any case and already showed off his silky dribbling and instinctive movement with the ball but got his first serious chance when Zian Flemming forced his way past Joel Latibeaudiere and into the box.
The ball fell for Esse who unleashed an effort that deflected off Luis Binks and flew in.
Obafemi would force Collins into another save minutes later, meaning that the Lions had four shots on target in the opening 15 minutes, three more than they had in the entirety of the defeat at Hull.
And the chances kept flowing: Joe Bryan volleyed wide before Sarkic and the crossbar managed to keep out Victor Torp’s free-kick from 25 yards out.
The game would only begin to really calm down after half an hour as Coventry managed to keep the ball and Millwall’s high performance levels dipped slightly.
The hosts came close about 10 minutes before half-time when Wes Harding had to head Kasey Palmer’s well-hit effort over the bar.
Both teams came into this game having dropped 21 points from winning positions, two fewer than leaders in this category Swansea, so both Edwards and Coventry boss Mark Robins would have been aware that, statistically speaking, there was still plenty to play for in the second half.
The Millwall boss also knew that all eight of the Lions’ victories this season have come with a clean sheet so would have been urging his side to hold firm.
As the home side and a goal down, the Sky Blues had to start positively after the break and did, fashioning a couple of half chances and making Millwall’s slender lead look increasingly tenuous.
But over the course of four calamitous minutes, the lead went from being tenuous to being a deficit.
Tanganga, who had been having a really good game, totally misjudged his tackle on Wright inside the box after 67 minutes. The American forward dispatched his penalty confidently.
As though stunned by the equaliser, all of the Lions’ defensive instincts eluded them the next time Coventry came forward. Callum O’Hare stormed past Jake Cooper inside the Millwall half and an opening appeared. He slipped in Wright who fired it towards the near post, with Sarkic failing to prevent a low effort that he is more than capable of dealing with.
Two costly mistakes in a few minutes completely changed the mood inside the stadium and Coventry took control and tried to kill the game off immediately.
Edwards reacted by throwing on Adam Mayor for his Lions debut while George Saville was also introduced, presumably in the hope that the experienced midfielder could restore some semblance of control and order to a Millwall side that had lost their discipline.
And while the away side did stem the bleeding, they showed few signs that they had it in them to go again and hurt their opponents.
Coventry managed to get over the line and moved back into the play-off positions while Millwall were left wondering once again what might have been.
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Coventry: 4-2-3-1: Collins; van Ewijk, Latibeaudiere, Binks, Dasilva; Torp, Eccles (Thomas 57′); Sakamoto, O’Hare, Palmer (Simms 57′); Wright
Millwall: 3-4-2-1: Sarkic; Tanganga, Harding, Cooper (c); McNamara, De Norre, Honeyman (Saville 77′), Bryan; Esse (Watmore 63′), Flemming (Mayor 77′); Obafemi (Bradshaw 63′).
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Attendance: 24,168