Money – combined with workrate and technical ability – talks as Millwall fortunate to escape heavier defeat to Fulham

It’s never a good sign when the opposition fans are breaking out the olés just 11 minutes into a match. So the fact that Millwall only ended up losing by a one-goal margin to Fulham on Tuesday was actually something of an achievement.

It should have been a far heavier defeat for Gary Rowett’s side and the Lions manager, who always gives a fair assessment post-match, readily conceded the fact that they were given “a bit of a lesson” by the west Londoners.

Whether Fulham will be such a force by the end of the window remains to be seen. But in midweek at The Den they were able to wheel out the big guns like Aleksandar Mitrovic, Jean Michael Seri and their supremely talented teenager Fabio Carvalho.
And that quality showed – both on the ball but also off it as they rarely gave Millwall a chance to settle.

Mitrovic took just three minutes to put Fulham ahead following a cutback from Balham-raised Carvalho. And then the 18-year-old got on the scoresheet himself – pointing exactly where he wanted Neeskens Kebano to distribute the ball before whipping a first-time finish beyond Bartosz Bialkowski.

But despite Fulham’s dominance they were unable to get the third goal which would have dispelled any notion of a Millwall comeback.

Ivan Cavaleiro had a glorious chance in the 31st minute, Carvalho again irrepressible in the build up, but he hammered wide of the left upright.

The chances kept coming for the early Championship pacesetters but Bialkowski pulled off an excellent save low to his right on a Mitrovic strike. There were big tackles and blocks made by Daniel Ballard and Jake Cooper.

Millwall’s best hope was to ask aerial questions of a Fulham side that was brimful of dynamism, pace and energy but not possessing many tall players.

But it took until the 52nd minute for them to win their first corner. They got another 17 minutes later, but that was it.

It took an hour for the Lions to register a chance of note, a long throw from Ryan Leonard popping out to Jed Wallace on the edge of the box – but his right-footed hit failed to test Paulo Gazzaniga.

The Fulham keeper didn’t totally convince, particularly coming for crosses. He was nowhere near a very late Wallace delivery which Cooper headed wide. The issue was that he wasn’t tested anywhere near enough

Rowett changed things up at the start of the second half, shifting to a 4-4-2 formation as Matt Smith was introduced and Ryan Leonard replaced Mahlon Romeo at right-back.

Smith did his job, winning 11 headers – six more than anyone else on the pitch. One of those bounced off Benik Afobe’s head to cut the deficit three minutes before the end of normal time.

For a player so accomplished in the air, Smith should have done better than narrowly head over from Scott Malone’s inch-perfect cross before Millwall did manage to breach Gazzaniga’s goal.

It’s always important in these situations to provide context. And that is that these two Championship clubs are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to spending.

Despite missing Tom Cairney, Harry Wilson, Bobby Decordova-Reid, Harrison Reed and Anthony Knockaert, Marco Silva still had the ridiculous luxury of naming Frank Anguissa, who cost £30million from Marseille in 2018, as a substitute. The Lions won’t have spent that total in combined fees in their history.

It’s no wonder that in recent years the likes of Fulham and Norwich – bolstered by the parachute payments – have managed to bounce back from relegation.

In saying all that, Millwall tend to raise their game against the fancied teams – they had two stalemates with Norwich and drew at home to Watford and Brentford, also promoted in May. This time they were distinctly second best.

STAR MAN
Daniel Ballard. Only Matt Smith won more aerial duels and produced a superb block to prevent Carvalho from completely killing off the contest in the second half.

BEST MOMENT
Benik Afobe’s first goal in English football since August 2019.