Blackburn Rovers vs Millwall. Sky Bet Championship.
Ewood Park.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackburn and Millwall at Ewood Park as Adam Armstrong strikes in stoppage time to help Rovers past the Lions to victory on Wednesday night.
Wednesday 2 December 2020 23:13, UK
Adam Armstrong's deflected late strike snatched Blackburn a 2-1 win over Millwall.
It looked almost certain that these two well-matched teams would cancel each other out after the advantage Harvey Elliott's sumptuous curling effort provided for Rovers in the 25th minute was wiped out by Scott Malone's thunderbolt nine minutes later.
The Lions thought they had done enough for what would have been a hard-fought point, but Armstrong popped up to take his Championship tally for the season to 14 after his shot found the net in the first minute of stoppage time.
Rovers have secured three wins on the spin for the first time since November 2019 and remain within striking distance of the top six, while Millwall's five-match unbeaten run came to an end, although they have gone seven without victory.
Injury deprived Tony Mowbray of Scott Wharton and Barry Douglas, though fit-again Daniel Ayala returned. A shoulder injury ruled out Jake Cooper for the Lions.
In-form Armstrong caused havoc with a piercing run early on before the ball fell to Elliott, who set himself up for a fine low volley that goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski did well to parry.
The game was tight in the opening quarter but something special broke the deadlock after 25 minutes as Armstrong's perfectly-weighted ball found Elliott on the right and the 17-year-old opened up his body before expertly curling a shot that flew past the Millwall keeper and into the far top corner.
Millwall rallied and Jed Wallace saw an effort deflect agonisingly wide. He was involved 11 minutes from the break as the Lions deservedly equalised. His surging run found Malone on the left and he hammered a side-foot shot into the top corner.
Elliott went close before the break but could not get a touch on Armstrong's inviting ball and shortly afterwards Jon Dadi Bodvarsson got the better of Ayala but his turn and shot was repelled by the legs of Thomas Kaminski.
Chances fell the way of Rovers as the game wore on. Substitute Tyrhys Dolan ought to have done better when he found himself beyond the Millwall defence but lobbed tamely at Bialkowski, and Armstrong fashioned space for a shot moments later but it was charged down.
Just as it looked like the spoils would be shared, Rovers broke Millwall hearts in the first minute of time added on.
Stewart Downing was the architect, weaving to engineer space, and when his shot was blocked, the league's leading marksman Armstrong reacted quickest, smashing a 12-yard shot beyond Bialkowski via a deflection.
There was still time for Tom Bradshaw to see a shot blocked and in the dying seconds Millwall were convinced a Rovers handball should have given them a penalty but the referee disagreed.
Blackburn's Tony Mowbray: "We're obviously delighted, finding a way to win. Ultimately we have to be better if we are going to genuinely challenge. What we've found is lots of teams play three at the back, some play with two strikers. Lots of different formations, and what we're finding is we're probably not good enough to just play our way.
"I genuinely felt we looked a bit jaded. I shouldn't say it because it might play on the minds of the players but I felt they were off the pace of where we can get to with the intensity. It's not a surprise to have a jaded performance on the back of all the games. There is lots for us to keep working on."
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "It's an incredibly frustrating evening. The beauty of modern technology is, on the bench, we more or less get a live feed. I appreciate the officials haven't got that ability but that's why they're officials, because they have to make the right decisions, or one of the right decisions. The first one with (Darragh) Lenihan, I can semi-understand why they didn't give the first one. The second one, ball in the box and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has a header, (Daniel) Ayala has both his hands above his head and he blocks the shot with either one of his hands.
"Then the third one, you can see blatantly, Ayala almost punches it out and the referee has a really good view. That's why you see our players going mad about it. That's why I'm sat here disappointed. I thought we played really well. I think I should be sat here talking about a game that either we've won or drawn."
