Blackburn Rovers made it six unbeaten and continue their fight towards earning a playoff spot, as they overcame a stubborn Millwall side by a 2-1 scoreline in order to come away from Ewood Park with a vital three points, courtesy of a late Adam Armstrong goal.
With the winter fixture list piling up, Blues boss Tony Mowbray made four changes to the team that ran out victorious at the weekend, in the 2-1 win over Barnsley. Daniel Ayala, Amari’i Bell, Bradley Johnson and Sam Gallagher all returned to the starting line-up as Scott Wharton, Barry Douglas, Tom Trybull and Joe Rothwell all dropped out. The former pair departed the side following the injuries they picked up during Saturday’s game, whereas the latter pair moved down to the bench. Skipper Darragh Lenihan was hoping to cap his 200th career appearance and his 150th Rovers league start with a win that edged Rovers closer to the play-off places.
After both teams went through their pre-match rituals, including ‘the knee’, it was Adam Armstrong who started the game for Rovers as they looked to continue their fine run of form.
Rovers started the game the brighter of the two sides, as Adam Armstrong stormed down the left-hand side, before seeing his eventual effort blocked. The loose ball could only fall as far as Harvey Elliott, whose subsequent attempt was well palmed away by Bartosz Białkowski. Luckily for the Pole, his save fell to the feet of Ben Brereton, whose shot towards a fairly open goal collided into the side-netting, however the young forward’s blushes were spared as he was deemed offside.
The 13th minute saw a Millwall corner cleared as far as Shaun Williams, whose half-volley landed on the roof of Thomas Kaminski’s net.
The 19th minute saw Williams booked for a cynical foul on Gallagher, on halfway.
Rovers managed to soak up the early Millwall pressure and hit the Lions on the break on the 25th minute, after Harvey Elliott started and finished off a lovely counter-attacking move with a sublime finish from just inside the penalty area. The Liverpool loanee picked the ball up just inside Millwall’s half, before feeding Armstrong – who was hanging out around 25-yards away from goal – with a low pass. The frontman used his pace to burst into the penalty area before laying the ball back off to Elliott who wasted no time in hitting a first-time curling effort with his left-foot – in almost Mohamed Salah-fashion – that left Białkowski leaping in despair, as the ball nestled into the top left-hand corner of the goal, to put Rovers ahead at 1-0.
Rovers’ lead only lasted nine minutes, as on-loan Derby County left-back, Scott Malone managed to grab an equaliser for the Lions. Jón Daði Böðvarsson and Jed Wallace did well to move Millwall up the pitch with pace, as they forced the home side’s defence back towards their own goal. As he stormed towards goal, Wallace did enough to draw Ryan Nyambe inside, which freed up the seemingly harmless overlapping run of the left-wing-back, Malone. Wallace was aware enough to slip the on-loan man in, who – like Elliott – hit his effort first-time, as he beat Kaminski at his near-post by firing the ball into the roof of the net to equalise the scoring at 1-1.
Harvey Elliott came within inches of doubling his tally on the night, on the 39th minute, as he narrowly missed out on finishing another Rovers counter. Kaminski’s roll out to Gallagher saw the forward burst forwards, before seeking Armstrong with a pass. The ‘Angel of the North’ again used his pace to get down the left-hand side, before slowing down and picking out the back-post run of Elliott with an inviting cross. Unluckily for Elliott, he was put off by the encroachment of Millwall’s Pole ‘keeper, as the ball skipped past the loanee and went out for a goal-kick.
Just prior to referee Michael Salisbury added in two extra minutes of time onto the end of the half, Ben Brereton tried his luck from range, as the ball was laid off to him, yet his dipping effort from around 25-yards didn’t dip quickly enough, as the ball looped over for a goal-kick.
Less than a minute later, Brereton again tried his luck from just inside the penalty area, after he drove forwards with pace and power from deep, however again, the forward’s effort veered off-target.
Brereton’s efforts proved to be the final attempts of the half, as Michael Salisbury soon brought an end to a rather balanced first period.
Tony Mowbray would have been rather frustrated with his side’s lack of fluency throughout the first period, despite them opening the scoring. The boss would have been pleased with how his side had been potent on the break but would have been critical of the space afforded to Scott Malone, for the Lions’ equaliser. The gaffer would have also been annoyed by the lack of concrete opportunities his side had managed to create, despite ending the half with 51% of the ball. Mowbray would have been calling upon his men to try and up their tempo, whilst trying to feed the likes of Lewis Holtby in midfield, in order to try and use the German’s experience and quality in order to craft Millwall’s sturdy back three open.
In the away dressing room, Gary Rowett would have had similar emotions to his counterpart, during the break. Whilst his side had been undone by a piece of individual brilliance from Elliott, the move which heled the ball upfield would have been too easy for the former Stoke City boss’s liking, as the ball remained unchallenged as it crossed the halfway line, initially. Whilst Rowett would have been happy with how his side had equalised, he too would have been calling for more urgency in attack, including making the most of set-pieces, given the overall height advantage that the visitors held over their hosts.
After both sides returned for the second period of football, it was the visitors who got the game back underway. The visitors, who had gained their first victory over Rovers in eight games during last season’s encounter at The Den, by a 1-0 scoreline, would have come out for the second period wanting to make it two in a row against the Blues, in the hope of extending their own unbeaten run of form to six – with the five prior to tonight’s game, all being draws.
Rovers started the second-half as they did the first, by creating the half’s first chance. Nyambe galloped down the right, using his pace and power to hold off his man, before delivering in a low cross towards Brereton. The forward, who was being tightly monitored by the visiting backline, did well to lay the cross off to Armstrong whose first-time effort flew harmlessly wide of the Millwall goal.
Thomas Kaminski was soon called into action of the 48th minute as Böðvarsson had a double chance denied by a combination of the goalie and Daniel Ayala. The first effort, which came from a left-hadn side cross, saw the Icelandic forward’s header blocked by Ayala. The rebound fell straight to the former Reading forward, but Kaminski did well to superbly block the effort with his legs.
The first change of the game was enforced on the 57th minute, after Ben Brereton was removed from play after the forward was on the receiving end of a tackle by Shaun Hutchinson. The forward, who went down holding his knee, managed to walk off the pitch, but was quickly replaced by Tyrhys Dolan.
A minute later, Lewis Holtby saw his left-footed effort deflected wide of the mark, yet the resulting corner was well defended by Millwall.
Despite the game being end-to-end without any end product, the next real opportunity at goal came Rovers’ way in the 67th minute. A direct ball forwards for Rovers saw Armstrong latch on the end of it. The Blues’ top scorer did well to bring the ball down and lay the ball off for Dolan, who managed to create a shooting opportunity in some tight space, yet his effort flew over the bar.
Kaminski was again called into action on the 71st minute as he managed to palm Hutchinson’s header behind for another corner. The second corner, however, was well dealt with by Rovers.
The 74th minute saw Mowbray make a triple change as he freshened up his side with some technical quality. Stewart Downing, John Buckley and Joe Rothwell all came on, as Lewis Holtby, Harvey Elliott and Sam Gallagher all departed.
Millwall made a double change on the 77th minute as Tom Bradshaw and Ben Thompson came on to replace Troy Parrott and Jón Daði Böðvarsson.
As the game became bitty and quiet, Millwall made their third change on the 87th minute as Ryan Leonard replaced Shaun Williams.
The peace and quiet at both ends soon turned into euphoria for Rovers as they managed to win it late on, courtesy of Adam Armstrong’s 50th goal for Rovers, which increased his amazing tally in 2020 to 26 goals in this calendar year. Following some tight possession around the Millwall box, Joe Rothwell laid the ball off to Stewart Downing, who tried to create an angle for a shot amongst a crowded penalty area. Downing’s eventual release was blocked into the path of Armstrong, whose own effort deflected over Białkowski and into the net, to leave Millwall in despair as Rovers and Armstrong wheeled away in celebration of the 2-1 scoreline.
As referee Michael Salisbury added on four minutes onto the end of the game, Gary Rowett threw the kitchen sink forwards, as he introduced 6’6’ striker Matt Smith and winger Jiří Skalák on, to replace Mahlon Romeo and Ryan Woods, in the hope of grabbing a late equaliser that would extend their unbeaten run to six.
Rovers retaliated with a change of their own, simultaneously as Tom Trybull came on to replace match-winner, Adam Armstrong for the final seconds.
Despite their best efforts, which included multiple set-pieces and an extra minute on top of the four already added, Millwall were unable to break Rovers down, which proved crucial in giving Rovers the much needed victory which could prove vital over the course of the campaign.
It doesn’t take much to get us Rovers fans off our settees, does it? The thrill of a last-minute winner at the end of, what was frankly a boring game for the most part, will always go down well, especially after last season’s late defensive frailties. Although last minute winners seem to come once in a blue moon for Rovers, it’s nice to see things falling into our favour for once. Whilst the game won’t be the first to be shown on Quest’s EFL Highlights show, it certainly showed to the Rovers fans, how far the side have come in terms of their mindset and their desire to want to win games. Although Millwall proved to be an incredibly difficult team to break down, given their reliance on five-at-the-back and direct balls forward, the patience and technical quality within Rovers’ side proved too hot for Millwall to handle.
Although Rovers haven’t budged in the league standings, things are looking very good for Tony Mowbray and his men. The Blues remain 9th, but now have 24 points and a positive goal-difference of +12 to their name. Although they remain three places behind 6th spot, they are only two points off Brentford.
Speaking of Brentford, they are the next side that Tony Mowbray and the boys will face, as the Rovers are scheduled to meet the Bees and a maximum of 2,000 Brentford fans at the new Brentford Community Stadium on Saturday 5th December, at 3pm. After that tie, the Blues will be heading back down south to face Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Wednesday 9th December at 7:45pm. Following those back-to-back away trips, Tony Mowbray and his side will return to Ewood Park to host current leaders Norwich City on Saturday 12th December at 3pm.
