Sunderland picked up a point at The Den, in what was a very scrappy affair. It had been the worst week in a long time here on Wearside. The snow was falling, but so were Sunderland. A shocking 2-0 defeat to then 19th place Plymouth, was followed up by a pathetic 2-1 loss to Huddersfield. Not one point was accumulated from two very winnable games against teams battling relegation. That’s shocking considering we're supposed to be pushing for promotion.
The fans were left frustrated, deflated, and irritated, which lead to a lot of finger pointing. KLD, the recruitment team, and Tony Mowbray have all been questioned this week. Personally, it doesn’t seem like we’re going anywhere, and if Tony Mowbray doesn’t come up with a plan B, he could lose his job.
It hasn’t been a great season for Millwall, who sat 19th going into this game. Gary Rowett has been replaced with former Chelsea youth coach Joe Edwards, and it’s clear that he needs time to turn things around. The Lions had won only one of their last eight games, which is very underwhelming considering where they were last season. Millwall’s last two games were a 3-0 battering at home to Coventry and a 3-1 stomping away to high flying Ipswich.
Starting 11: Anthony Patterson, Niall Huggins, Dan Ballard, Luke O’Nien (C), Trai Hume, Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah, Abdoullah Ba, Adil Aouchiche, Jack Clarke, Mason Burstow
Mowbray made four changes to the starting 11, Niall Huggins came back in for Jensen Seelt who wasn’t in the squad today. Pierre Ekwah came in for Jobe who was dropped to the bench for the first time this season. Abdoullah Ba switched places with Patrick Roberts, and Eliezer Mayenda was dropped for Mason Burstow.
Despite the change in personnel, Mowbray still persisted with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation. I was praying that Mogga had a trick up his sleeve.
Millwall kicked things off and immediately hoofed it long. It was clear that this game was going to be gritty. Jack Clarke won the first corner of the game, but he played it short and it came to nothing.
The lads were definitely showing a lot more urgency than they were on Wednesday. The game was end to end, with both teams getting up the pitch and trying to make things happen. Abdoullah Ba won a free kick on the edge of the box, Aouchiche played the ball to Dan Neil who put it over the bar. Just like a lot of Championship matches, it was very scrappy.
However, Luke O’Nien was playing some nice long ball switches to Jack Clarke. Not to mention, we were also looking to play that long ball in behind for Burstow. We were pressing well and forcing Millwall into making some decisions they didn’t want to make. After a while, most of the play took place in the middle of the park and both teams were giving the ball away.
Ba and Aouchiche linked up well for a good a little move that ended with Dan Neil’s shot being saved by Bialkowski. He couldn’t get enough power on it.
Mason Burstow was given a yellow card after he collided with Ryan Leonard. It wasn’t the best challenge and a yellow card was probably the right call. The home side were able to win a corner from the restart, but that was collected by Anthony Patterson.
After another scrappy few minutes, Dan Neil was hacked down for a free kick. Big Jake Cooper dealt with first ball in, then Huggins got caught offside. Sunderland were finally starting to try and ramp up the intensity at the half hour mark, and Jack Clarke should have had a free kick, but for some reason the referee gave it to Millwall. The winger was then booked a few minutes later for a high boot.
The scrappiness continued and the tackles went in. There was a real lack of quality on display. Brooke Norton-Cuffy ran past Pierre Ekwah and fizzed a dangerous ball down the right hand side, thankfully, no one was there to finish it.
The Lions won a corner in the 40th minute, and George Saville had a solid attempt on goal that was saved by the Mackem in yellow. Amongst the chaos there was also a penalty shout, but the referee didn’t give anything.
In the 43rd minute Dan Ballard slid in for a challenge, which opened up space for Norton-Cuffy to pick out Kevin Nisbet who slotted it home and made it 1-0. I would say I was shocked, but that would be a lie.
The first half ended with us being 1-0 down, thanks to a poor piece of defending. Honestly, there wasn’t much in that first half and both teams were poor. That said, Millwall took their chance well and found themselves 1-0 up. A big response was needed in the second half because another defeat was on the horizon.
No changes were made, and Sunderland got things back underway. The Lads got caught in possession again and the home side were able to have a shot. Luckily, it was blocked.
Jack Clarke did well to get to the byline and win a corner, that led to a foul by George Honeyman. Aouchiche fizzed in the free kick, and Ekwah had a shot from an awkward angle. It seemed as though someone had told Jack to go that way on his left more often compared to Wednesday night, where he constantly tried to cut in to no avail.
This half felt slightly less scrappy, and the passing was a bit smoother. That said, Mowbray’s men were flat and Millwall were able to apply some pressure and swarm our box. In the 55th minute Mowbray made his usual triple substitution. Abdoullah Ba, Adil Aouchiche, and Mason Burstow were subbed off for Alex Pritchard, Bradley Dack, and Patrick Roberts. We needed a goal and Mowbray went with no strikers...
Millwall continued to push forward and they were able to easily get into our box, but they couldn’t carve out a clear cut opportunity. Patrick Roberts responded to the Millwall pressure by whipping in a nice ball, but no one was there. He then squandered a golden opportunity when he tried to pass to Pritchard instead of having a shot on goal. I was speechless, we’re almost afraid to shoot at times.
Pritchard was making a difference since coming on by picking up the ball and driving forward. Adil won a free kick, and it went towards O’Nien couldn’t head it home.
Joe Edwards brought off George Honeyman and Kevin Nisbet for Ryan Longman and last seasons top scorer (for Millwall) Tom Bradshaw.
Jack Clarke created a great opportunity when he drove down the line and pulled it back for Bradley Dack, who put it just shy of the post. George Saville got booked a few minutes later for asking for a yellow card. You’re not allowed to do that nowadays, just ask Dan Neil.
Ryan Longman whipped in a good ball for Tom Bradshaw who forced Patto into making a good stop. Roberts then put together a lovely run and was brought down for a free kick as he looked to have had the beating of Murray Wallace. A good ball was put in for Dan Ballard, who’s side footed effort went over the bar, quite incredible how high he got it over the bar actually. Duncan Watmore was then subbed on for Zian Flemming, and Eliezer Mayenda was brought on for Dan Neil.
15 minutes remained and Sunderland were desperately pushing for an equaliser. We were getting forward and winning corners, but failing to test the goalkeeper. That was until Jack Clarke was hacked down by Ryan Leonard in the penalty, and we won a penalty. Jake Cooper was shown a yellow for moaning. Upon closer inspection, it did look very close and on the replays it looked like the Millwall defender might have got a touch on the ball, but we’ve been on the wrong end of those before so we’ll take it gladly.
Jack Clarke stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner. It’s the wingers 10th goal this season. The Lads now had just over ten minutes to find a winner.
Millwall created some chaos and tried to force the ball into the net, Jake Cooper charged into Patto and Bradshaw was given a yellow for descent.
Mayenda then had an effort blocked by Cooper. That was followed by an outside of the boot effort from Ekwah. This game was truly all over the place, almost like a basketball game at times.
Although there was a lack of quality, both teams were hunting for a winner. Millwall were pumping the ball forward, and Tom Bradshaw had a goal ruled out for offside. That came after Ryan Longman’s deflected effort hit the post as Patto left. Thank the gods that it was given for offside, because it would have been an embarrassing goal to concede, Patto had left it as if it was going miles wide, and then suddenly it rebounded to the worst place possible right at Bradshaw’s feet.
The fourth official added four minutes of added time, plenty of time for a winner. Duncan Watmore was booked for pulling down Patrick Roberts, but nothing came off it. The game ended 1-1 and that result sees us sit in ninth place in the table, three points from the top six.
It wasn’t a great performance from either side. Both teams lacked quality. Millwall have conceded a lot recently, so I’m a bit disappointed that we couldn’t score past them from open play given how dangerous we can be once we get flowing, but it never did get flowing.
Final Score – Millwall 1-1 Sunderland
ALS Man of The Match - Jack Clarke: He was driving down the wing and causing Millwall problems, and of course he won and scored the penalty. Nice to see him change it up a bit more too, opting to go towards the byline more often which in turn made his attempt to cut in a bit more successful at times.
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