George Saville’s first league goal for 17 months ensured Millwall will go into the final day of the Championship season with everything to play for.
Saville scored the only goal of the game as Millwall recorded their fifth consecutive home win with a 1-0 win over Swansea City.
This result combined with Luton’s 1-0 win over Coventry in the early kick-off means both sides are level on points heading into what is sure to be a cracking final day of the league season.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
Millwall: Evans, Crama, Cooper, Tanganga, Sturge, Azeez, De Norre (Wintle 86), Saville, Cundle (Honeyman 58), Ivanovic, Coburn (Emakhu 74). Subs not used: Przewozny, Leonard, Harding, Kelly, Connolly, Langstaff.
Swansea City: Vigouroux, Key, Fulton (Cooper 67), Cabango, O’Brien, Eom, Tymon, Franco (Allen 67), Cullen (Vipotnik 67), Delcroix, Pereira Martins (Bianchini 85). Subs not used: McLaughlin, Christie, Naughton, Margetson, Parker
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
Following Luton Town’s 1-0 win over Coventry City in the lunchtime kick-off, Millwall knew a victory would ensure they would head into the final day with a chance of being in the Championship play-offs. As you would expect the atmosphere inside the stadium was electric when the teams came out. Josh Coburn should have put Millwall in front early on, Luke Cundle broke and the ball made its way to Coburn but he was unable to finish. The Lions took the lead in the 38th minute, Saville finishing off a move he started. Femi Azeez blasted the ball into a crowd, it deflected and found its way to Saville at the back post.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Alex Neil named an unchanged starting 11 to the one that beat Norwich 3-1 on Monday. It was clear in the early stages what Millwall wanted to do – soak up the pressure, hit on the break and take advantage of set-piece situations. It worked against Norwich but the Swans provided a bit more of a challenge and, having won their last five games, were a dangerous opponent. Neil decided to sacrifice a second striker in the latter stages to shore up the midfield – a move that proved to work.
STAR MAN
George Evans. The young Lions keeper made three superb stops to deny the Welsh side.
BEST MOMENT
Evans save to deny Eom. A rare mix-up in the Millwall defence allowed Eom in one v one against Evans but he stood up strong and made the vital block, The crowd celebrated it like a goal and rightly so.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
It’s all on the final day now.
I have ruled out Millwall’s chances a few times – after the Bristol City and Blackburn matches come to mind – but they have proved me wrong time and time again. Is it written for them? Coventry have now had back to back defeats, Middlesbrough are winless in two and they play each other on the last day. That is a huge game at the CBS Arena.
For Millwall the message will again be simple – win the game. Do that and they put all the pressure on to their rivals. Goal difference could yet be a crucial factor, if it comes down to that then the Lions are at a big disadvantage.
Burnley have lost just twice this season, once to Millwall. The last side to beat Burnley in the league? You guessed it – the Lions. Is it all written in the stars?
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“It wasn’t my most enjoyable 90 minutes. We can play better, that’s the first thing. But in the first half we had numerous chances to score — and we did — but equally, we could have scored more goals. You could sense the tension in and around the stadium. The fans were in fine voice and brilliant, and in certain ways that really helped us. But in other ways, we lacked a little bit of composure, taking our touches and passes.”
