Sammie Szmodics continued his sensational goalscoring form as he hit 26 goals in all competitions, but it only proved value for a point as Rovers’ battle to avoid a return to League One for the first time in six years continues, as the Blues had to fight from behind to draw 1-1 with Millwall on a cold Tuesday night at Ewood Park.
After stuttering to a poor 2-1 defeat away in South Wales against Swansea City on Saturday, John Eustace made two changes to his side – one enforced, one by choice – as illness to Aynsley Pears meant that Leopold Wahlstedt had to deputise once more, whilst Jake Garrett was given his 18th cap of the season to replace the out-of-sorts, Andrew Moran who was benched.
With just over 11,000 braving the cold East Lancashire weather to watch the clash, it was Sammie Szmodics who got the game underway as he was no doubt aiming to be the driving force behind a potential Rovers rise up the table.
After just 120 seconds, the lively forward was tying the visiting defenders in knots and giving them a taste of what was to come as he latched onto the end of a low cross by the dynamic Tyrhys Dolan, but the Championship’s top scorer couldn’t grab that elusive #20 as Matija Sarkic held the ball tightly to avoid it squirming loose.
Despite that fast start, neither side managed to really gain a decent foothold in the game, as Rovers hogged most of the possession without really threatening Millwall’s goal, whilst the Lions’ attempts at counter-attacking were mainly thwarted by Rovers before they even reached the final third.
That changed in the 20th minute as Dolan won the ball back on the left-hand side and made his way into the box to create a shooting angle, before his attempts were quelled by the head of retreating loanee Tottenham Hotspur defender, Japhet Tanganga.
Four minutes later, Rovers were knocking on the door again as Callum Brittain brought the ball down and teed up Szmodics, who could only win a corner that the visitors dealt with.
The 28th minute saw Millwall foray forwards and cause panic in the Rovers penalty area for the first time as they won a corner which was put deep by George Saville, however Zian Flemming’s off-balance shot ended up in the side-netting, despite edging free inside the area.
After Rovers stormed forwards in the 36th minute, they won a corner which Millwall again dealt with, however the stoppage gave referee Jeremy Simpson the opportunity to dip into his pocket for the first time in the game as he booked Tanganga for a late foul on John Buckley in the middle of the park.
Mr. Simpson soon called for one added minute to be added onto the end of the period, before the tepid first period which lacked the required goalmouth action that would warm the supporters up, was brought to a close.
At the break, John Eustace would have been happy with his team’s domination of the ball and their ability to quell any Millwall half-chances at source, but would have wanted his side to play with a higher sense of urgency and flair, as they aimed to try and tempt Millwall out of their defensive shape with a goal that would break the deadlock.
In the visiting dressing room, Neil Harris – who was pumped 5-2 with Cambridge United in January at Ewood Park – was fully aware of the attacking threat that Rovers possessed and would have been proud of his side’s resolute defensive efforts that would have not only frustrated the home side, but also given his own team the platform to potentially nick a goal.
Just before Millwall got the second-half going, both sides made alterations to their team. First, Neil Harris changed his attacking options as Aidomo Emakhu remained in the dressing room and was replaced by one-time Rovers target, and on-loan Burnley forward, Michael Obafemi. Rovers’ change was most likely due to fatigue or injury, as Ben Chrisene replaced Callum Brittain for the second 45 minutes, as Harry Pickering took up post at right-back.
As Millwall’s record goalscorer, Neil Harris certainly knows how to get a tune out of their supporters and their players, which is exactly what came, after nine minutes had passed in the second period, as his change at the break paid off perfectly. The Lions managed to take the lead – against the overall run of play of the game – in-front of their travelling support of 338, courtesy of a bit of luck falling Obafemi’s way. Billy Mitchell’s cross from the right-hand side eluded everyone and fell to Obafemi in the box. A sound initial poke away by Dominic Hyam saw the ball ricochet off the heel of the lunging John Buckley before it bounced into Obafemi’s path. The Irishman only had to jink in the opposite direction to the Blue and White shirts before feinting past Kyle McFadzean and creating a shooting angle where he let a powerful shot rip which flew past Leopold Wahlstedt to give the visitors a surprising 1-0 advantage.
On the hour mark, Rovers tried to retaliate, six minutes after going behind as Buckley send Szmodics away, but the angle for the shot proved too tight as Sarkic made the save.
John Eustace turned to his bench to freshen up his options in the 62nd minute as he introduced Yasin Ayari and Arnór Sigurðsson for Tyrhys Dolan and Jake Garrett.
Those alterations proved critical as they had an instant impact on the game’s proceedings as less than a minute after the Icelandic international’s introduction, Arnór Sigurðsson notched his second assist of the season for – who else? – none other than Sammie Szmodics to draw the home side level with what not only was his 20th league goal, and his 26th in all competitions for 2023-24, but also his 100th career goal. As a visiting orange shirt went down off the ball, some sloppy attacking play by Sigurðsson saw Rovers have their own slice of luck as the Icelandic international capitalised on a loose pass by Danny McNamara, before lifting his head up and finding then free Szmodics cutting into the box via the left-hand channel. The lethal forward proved that his confidence levels were sky-high despite Rovers’ underperformance as he took the shot on first-time, to curl it past Sarkic and draw Rovers level at 1-1, in what would have undoubtedly been a sweet goal for the self-confessed West Ham United supporter.
The game returned to status quo, as Rovers continued to dominate proceedings after regaining their momentum, with Millwall doing all they could to stop Rovers at source and fluff their attempts at breaking into the final-third as Rovers’ low tempo led to frustration from the terraces.
In the 75th minute, Neil Harris again turned to his bench for inspiration as he introduced Arsenal loanee, Brooke Norton-Cuffy and former playoff-winning goalscorer, Joe Bryan to the fray as Danny McNamara and Ryan Longman departed.
With the visitors happy to settle for a point as they continued to dig deep to clear the ball at first ask, Rovers kept probing and weren’t able to fashion another glimpse in the Millwall penalty area even worth mentioning until the 83rd minute when a Buckley cross was aimed at Sam Gallagher who did brilliantly to get ahead and goal-side of his marker, but a combination of a mistimed run and good defending to distract the Rovers #9 saw the ball flash through and return to Millwall’s possession.
That half-chance proved to be Gallagher’s final involvement as he was soon replaced by Dilan Markanday who was aiming to impress once more, after catching the eye in the FA Cup Fifth Round penalty defeat to Newcastle United, seven days ago.
As frustration grew from the home stands as the 90th minute approached, referee Jeremy Simpson extended the evening by a minimum of five additional minutes as Rovers looked the most likely to leave Ewood Park with the three points, as Millwall were satisfied to boot the ball into touch at every opportunity.
In an effort to conserve the energy of his top talent and signal his intent to end the fixture, Neil Harris introduced Duncan Watmore – the scorer of a brace in the dramatic 4-3 final day playoff bonanza at The Den, last season – as talisman, Zian Flemming was wrapped up in cotton wool.
Although it was seemingly looking as if the sides would have to share the points, Yasin Ayari aimed to change that in the 93rd minute and cement his names on the lips of the Rovers faithful as his speculative effort from range forced Sarkic to scramble across goal and palm it behind for a corner. The subsequent set-piece arguably summed up Rovers’ season, as despite the corner being taken short, the two Blue and White shirts weren’t on the same wavelength as they somehow managed to concede a throw-in by passing the ball to the advertising board, as the final whistle soon brought a chorus of voiced frustration from the home crowd.
There’s not much to summarise about a drab game, sadly. Whilst Rovers showed they were almost struggling between the styles of play of the two regimes they have been under, this campaign, they still managed to frighten Millwall at an extent that should have seen them kill the game off. Despite that lack of urgency or killer instinct, their refusal to play on quick instinct at a high tempo and play methodical football against a physical, count er-attacking side, ultimately proved a bad decision as they failed to really cause panic inside the visiting penalty areas. Saying that, the team deserve great credit and praise for their character after they came back from a goal behind for the third successive home game, in all competitions to earn a point.
Although Wednesday’s Championship games haven’t been played as more of Rovers’ relegation-threatened rivals get on the pitch, John Eustace’s men are left in 17th place with a negative goal-difference of -13, despite adding a point to their tally which takes them up to 40.
Speaking of their position in the table, after playing the team one place below them, they now prepare to face the team one place above them, as Plymouth Argyle make the trip northwards on Saturday 9th March for the 3pm start. After that tie, the Blues are back on the road for their last game before the final international break of the campaign as they themselves head north to face Carabao Cup semi-finalists, Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday 16th March at 3pm. Once all the eligible players return from their international commitments and John Eustace has had more time to prepare for the 39th game of the league season, Ipswich Town will make the long trip up to Ewood Park in a game that will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, on Friday 29th March at the teatime kick-off of 5:30pm.
