PRESTON 0 MILLWALL 2
By Alex Grace
A two-goal victory at Preston this evening was enough to put Millwall joint third in the Championship table.
On-loan West Brom forward Kenneth Zohore opened the scoring in the 54th minute of his full debut.
And Jed Wallace added his fourth goal of the season from the penalty spot in the 84th minute to clinch the points and take their unbeaten run to four games – and three victories out of four matches on the road.
They achieved victory with manager Gary Rowett, assistant Adam Barratt, technical coach Joe Carnell, performance coach Dave Carolan and goalkeeping coach Lee Turner all absent, watching the game via video link.
The result put them temporarily in joint second, but with rivals Bristol City, a point behind, and Bournemouth, two points behind, were still playing each other at the Cherries’ Vitality Stadium, once known as Dean Court. The hosts’ 1-0 victory in that game took them into second spot and left the Lions in join third with Swansea – both clubs have a goal difference of plus-five.
Gary Rowett made three changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Barnsley on Saturday. Murray Wallace and Ryan Woods were recalled to the side and there was a full debut for Zohore.
It took 23 minutes for the first shot on target to arrive. Mason Bennett and Jed Wallace combined well to allow the latter to get his shot away in a neat passage of play – but his drive was held comfortably by North End keeper Declan Rudd.
On 38 minutes Zohore skipped through two challenges to enter the box but his rustiness showed as his shot went out for a throw-in. Just two minutes later, Rudd again had to be alert, this time to deny Bennett. The ball broke nicely to the former Derby man, who turned and struck from around 25 yards forcing Rudd to tip the ball over the bar.
Millwall took the lead on 54 minutes. A wonderful break was spearheaded by Mason Bennett and he found Jed Wallace who crossed the ball to Zohore who was free in the centre of the box for a simple tap-in.
It took Preston until the 69th minute to register their first shot on target. Tom Barkhuizen latched onto to Daniel Johnson’s ball and the former’s effort was kept out well by Bartosz Bialkowski.
On 82 minutes Murray Wallace was clipped as he went to shoot and the Lions were awarded a penalty. Jed Wallace fired the spot-kick past Rudd to secure all three points for Millwall, who have now taken 10 points from the last 12 available.
Happiness in the Lions’ camp will be tempered with anxiety about Zohore, who limped off with 15 minutes to go nursing a calf problem.
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