By Lucas Ball at The Den
MILLWALL ended their near four-month wait for a home win with a 4-1 victory over in-form Sheffield Wednesday.
Gary Rowett’s side fell behind after just 10 minutes to Callum Paterson’s goal before Kenneth Zohore’s penalty saw them level at the break.
Second-half strikes from Scott Malone, Ben Thompson and Tom Bradshaw wrapped up a comfortable win in the end after an aggressive second half display.
Match Action
A relatively even start to the game still saw the visitors look the more likely to cause problems and penetrate the opposition, with their first half-chance coming nine minutes in when Shaun Hutchinson cleared a low cross aimed for Paterson that had deflected off debutant George Evans.
Just a minute later, Millwall were behind when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s lack of pressing intensity from the front forced Maikel Kieftenbeld, Evans and Mahlon Romeo to move out of position – in turn exposing the defence.
Hutchinson tried to commit a foul but the advantage was played as Elias Kachunga ran in behind and crossed for Paterson who converted from close range at the second attempt.
Joey Pelupessy fired a half-volley wide with just over 15 minutes gone after the Lions failed to fully clear the lines, before a counter-attack saw Millwall advance up the pitch only for Ryan Leonard to squander the chance with a poor pass that was behind Zohore – when he could have gone for goal himself.
Appeals for a penalty after a challenge on Leonard were waved away soon after – there didn’t appear to be enough in the incident for a spot-kick to be awarded.
Fifteen minutes later, though, in the 39th minute, Millwall had their penalty as Leonard was hauled down by Pelupessy, allowing Zohore to net his third Lions goal as he finished from from 12 yards.
Kieftenbeld fired over from outside the box in the last action of the first period.
Evans shot narrowly over from close range at a corner within two minutes of play resuming, before Bartosz Bialkowski saved comfortably from Adam Reach.
Kieren Westwood made two brilliant saves in the space of 30 seconds to stop a deflected Bodvarsson effort and then a Hutchinson header from the resulting corner 10 minutes into the second half.
With 20 minutes to go, Millwall turned on the style in the rain.
First a delicate ball from Evans found Thompson whose effort was superbly saved before Jake Cooper’s follow-up was deflected for a corner.
Malone’s corner was poor but the wing-back got possession back and beat a number of defenders, lifting the ball over one before volleying in on his right foot to give Millwall the lead.
Less than a minute later, the advantage was doubled as Bodvarsson found Thompson on the right, and the latter’s mis-hit cross beat Westwood.
Just a minute after coming on, Bradshaw forced another save from Westwood as Millwall looked to extend their lead.
Bradshaw made it 4-1 in the last minute of normal time with a deflection from Romeo’s effort from the edge of the box after a brilliant driving run from the defender.
Millwall end wait for a home win
It has been a long time since Millwall last won in south Bermondsey. It was back in October, with Luton Town the visitors.
A 2-0 win then made it two wins in two after an away victory at Wycombe, but since then Rowett’s side have fallen away from top-six contention, in danger of mid-table mediocrity.
They have played 11 games at The Den since then, with Millwall only taking seven points from their 10 home league fixtures.
They have missed fans massively and perhaps more than any other side in the division, but that has been no excuse for their poor run.
Today, after the break, Millwall were more aggressive after an extremely poor first half. They won the majority of duels and second balls in the second half and looked like a side desperate to win the game but deprived of confidence until a moment of brilliance from Malone.
They relied on that to set them off, but then a fluke goal from Thompson made the lead comfortable and gave Millwall licence to play with more freedom in the last 20 minutes.
This win has to be a kick-starter for the coming weeks, when they will hope to take advantage of a decent-looking run of fixtures.
Malone’s doubters need to be ignored
More often than not, the returning loanee has been one of Millwall’s most involved players and most impressive offensively throughout this season.
He offers energy all game down the left, as well as sticking to his defensive duties.
Malone often drives the Lions forward and has scored some important – and superbly taken – goals for his side this season.
His set-piece deliveries often threaten and Millwall should make more of those crosses into good areas.
One thing is for sure, Malone has proved his doubters wrong in SE16 and has likely done enough to earn himself a contract in the summer when his Derby deal expires.
Evans’ debut
Evans started on the right of the back three, alongside Hutchinson and Cooper.
Millwall need players who are able to progress the ball in the wide areas of their back three and Evans certainly looks as though he is more adept at that than Hutchinson, who has shifted to the middle role in recent games.
He gave the ball away a few times but showed some neat touches and glimpses of his ability in possession, including a couple of switch-passes to spread the play.
It was a delicate ball from Evans that saw Thompson’s strike well-saved.
It would be harsh to judge Evans’ defensive display too much given Millwall’s lack of organisation – particularly in the first half – though he won a number of his duels and looked mobile enough to deal with energetic forwards.
A dependable debut with more to come from the former Derby and Reading man.
Team News
Rowett made three changes from the 0-0 draw against Norwich in midweek as Evans, Romeo and Bodvarsson replaced Danny McNamara, Thompson and Jed Wallace.
5-3-2: Bialkowski; Romeo, Evans, Hutchinson, Cooper, Malone; Kieftenbeld (Thompson, 46), Woods, Leonard (Williams, 60); Bodvarsson (Smith, 85), Zohore (Bradshaw, 79)
Substitutes: Fielding, Pearce, McNamara, Wallace, Bennett
Booked: Hutchinson
Image: Millwall FC