The lowdown on Millwall’s 4-1 loss to Blackburn – Lions wilted badly as Rovers, once again, trample on play-off dreams
Millwall’s promotion hopes are all but dead in the water after Alex Neil’s men were thumped 4-1 by Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
The Lions, who were forced to hand a senior debut to young keeper George Evans with both Lukas Jensen and Liam Roberts out injured, fell behind in the 42nd minute to a Dominic Hyam header. Mihailo Ivanovic was on hand to restore parity two minutes later, but a deflected strike from Sonde Tronstrad minutes later meant the visitors trailed at the break.
Callum Brittain lashed a strike beyond Evans at his near post just four minutes after the interval to leave the Lions with a mountain to climb before Tronstrad grabbed a second to punish a poor pass from Jake Cooper and kill the game off.
THE LINE-UPS
Millwall: Evans, Harding, Crama, Cooper, Leonard, Honeyman, Mitchell (Saville 57), De Norre (Emakhu 64), Azeez (Connolly 74), Ivanovic (Cundle 65), Coburn. Subs not used: Drake, Hutchinson, Wintle, Langstaff.
Blackburn: Toth, Brittain (Pickering 72), Hyam, Batth, Ribeiro, Tronstrad (Buckley 84), Travis (Forshaw 65), Dolan, Cantwell, Hedges (Woodrow 65), Ohashi (Gueye 72). Subs not used: Pears, Sanderson, Cozier-Duberry, Rankin-Costello.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
Millwall acquitted themselves well and had chances before falling behind and were maybe hard done by to head in behind at the break.
After a frenetic end to the first-half Millwall knew they would likely have to go gung-ho to try and keep their play-off hopes alive. But Brittain’s powerful strike just four minutes after the half-time break felt like the killer blow.
Millwall wilted badly after that as Blackburn, just as they did in the final knockings of the 2022-23 campaign, trampled on the Lions’ top-six hopes.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Given the shift to a front two proved to be the catalyst for Millwall’s 1-0 win over Middlesbrough last weekend, it was no surprise to see Josh Coburn return to partner Mihailo Ivanovic in attack.
The Lions frontmen gave Blackburn plenty to think about in the first half with Ivanovic spurning two good chances before tucking home his 10th goal of the season.
Defensively, though, Millwall were found wanting. Debutant George Evans was beaten twice in the first half when the visitors failed to defend their box adequately.
And with Millwall among the lowest scorers in the Championship, it always felt like Alex Neil’s side would be up against it to score the additional goals they needed to leave Lancashire with all three points even before their second half capitulation.
STAR MAN
Sonde Tronstrad. Helped Blackburn take control after the break.
BEST MOMENT
Ivanovic’s instant response to Blackburn’s opener was as good as it got for Millwall and their travelling contingent.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
Millwall’s second-half showing. Who knows how the game would have panned out had they gone in at the break level, but they faded badly after Brittain made it three.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
Millwall’s goalkeeping option will be the big talking point between now and Monday, when the Lions welcome Norwich to The Den.
If Lukas Jensen and Liam Roberts are both unavailable, then Millwall could face the prospect of negotiating their final three games without a senior goalkeeper, which would be absolutely rotten luck.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“I said to them my biggest problem probably at the end of the game was we looked as though we lacked a little belief at that stage and that’s a frustration for me because that’s not a nice sight to have as a coach.”
