ROMAIN ESSE came off the bench to score his first ever Millwall goal to grab a sensational opening day win at Middlesbrough.
The 18-year-old enjoyed a brilliant pre-season but will now be in dreamland after making his effort count when it mattered.
His goal came 12 minutes from time after Millwall repeatedly failed to find the breakthrough in a game they had been in charge of.
An away trip to the Riverside stadium – where the Lions hadn’t won since 2014 – proved to be the perfect litmus test for Gary Rowett and his team after their near-miss of last season.
All the talk before the game was whether the Lions had the mettle to bounce back after last season’s gut-wrenching ending against Blackburn.
The 90 minutes that followed proved to be compelling evidence that Millwall are very much back on track.
The London club had the better of the game from the start.
The first chance came as Danny McNamara, on his 100th club appearance, escaped down the right hand side.
A ball in was touched by Casper De Norre into the path of Zian Flemming, but he hit his effort wide after four minutes.
By the 11 minute mark Millwall managed to give Boro more problems with a well-worked corner routine but Flemming once again could not find the target.
Middlesbrough were having most of the ball but completely lacked goal threat in the opening half hour, with last season’s top scorer Chuba Akpom left on the bench after missing pre-season with injury.
The Lions looked far more dangerous when they had the ball, with the three outfield debutants – Joe Bryan, De Norre and Kevin Nisbet – finding their feet quickly.
But it was one of January’s signings who came closest to opening the scoring in the first-half at Duncan Watmore – on his return to the Riverside – stormed forward and had an effort deflected just over the bar.
Not long before half-time, the home side finally showed their teeth. The impressive young midfielder Hayden Hackney slipped an effort past new keeper Matija Sarkic from close range but the goal was ruled out after the assistant referee judged the ball to have gone out of play before reaching Hackney.
The chances continued to flow in the second-half. Jake Cooper had a header from a corner that went just wide minutes after Bryan fired an effort not far from the post.
And an increasingly tense game almost had a breakthrough just after 62 minutes as the impressive Watmore played in Nisbet whose one-on-one effort was saved by former QPR keeper Seny Dieng.
Gary Rowett and Michael Carrick both turned to their bench to try and trigger changes as George Saville came on for De Norre while Sammy Silvera made his Boro debut in place of Hayden Coulson.
It would be time for Romain Esse and Aidomo Emakhu to make their appearance 10 minutes later, and the pair took just minutes to make their impact.
Emakhu zipped down the wing with speed and precision after being released from the half-way line and nudged the ball into the box.
The ball flashed past players on both sides before Esse lifted a wonderful left-footed effort into the left corner.
Underwhelming Middlesbrough had no response and they remain winless on the opening day since 2014.
As for Millwall, it was close to the perfect away performance and a strong statement of intent for what could be a very intriguing season.
And if people outside London were not talking about Esse before, they certainly will be this evening.
Millwall: 3-4-1-2: Sarkic; Hutchinson (C), Cooper, Wallace; McNamara, B Mitchell, De Norre (Saville 65′), Bryan (Leonard 91′); Flemming (Emakhu 73′); Watmore (Esse 73′), Nisbet (Bradshaw 91′).
Middlesbrough: 4-2-3-1: Dieng; McNair, Lenihan (C), Fry, Coulson (Silvera 68′); Barlaser (Howson 76′), Hackney; Forss, Crooks (Jones 87′), McGree; Rogers.