Millwall vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
The Den.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Millwall and Coventry at The Den as a Jake Cooper own goal and Gustavo Hamer strike fire the Sky Blues to victory; Jed Wallace scores consolation penalty for the Lions and Murray Wallace is sent off late on
Saturday 2 January 2021 18:50, UK
Coventry earned their first win since mid-December with a 2-1 victory away at Millwall.
There was an air of fortune about both of the visitors' goals as Jake Cooper put the ball in his own net before Gustavo Hamer powered home from 20 yards after his own free-kick bounced back to him.
Jed Wallace's 75th-minute penalty gave Millwall hope but defeat now leaves them with just two wins in 14 games.
The away side started the game brightest with Matt Godden having the first chance in front of goal after six minutes only to glance Fankaty Dabo's cross wide.
Godden's game did not last much longer as he was forced off through injury after 15 minutes and replaced by Maxime Biamou.
Coventry continued to dominate and took the lead after 20 minutes when Dabo won the ball back in the Millwall half and curled beautifully into the path of Jordan Shipley. The 23-year-old took a touch to set himself before powering the ball against the post, sending it ricocheting back onto the shins of Cooper and into the back of the net.
Five minutes later the Sky Blues had their second when Hamer lashed a 20-yard free-kick low into the wall - the ball bouncing straight back to the Brazilian to hit first-time into the bottom corner.
Coventry continued to dominate and almost added a third, first through Hamer and then Ben Sheaf, but both efforts were well saved by Bartosz Bialkowski.
Millwall boss Gary Rowett introduced Tottenham loanee Troy Parrott and Scott Malone at half-time but the visitors continued to apply pressure, with Shipley rattling the post from 25 yards almost immediately after the restart.
The Lions finally created a chance of their own after 55 minutes but striker Tom Bradshaw opted for power over placement and failed to work Ben Wilson.
They then went one better and put the ball in the back of the net after Wallace converted from the penalty spot following a foul on Parrott.
Callum O'Hare had the chance to put the game beyond doubt with less than five minutes on the clock when he went through one-on-one with Bialkowski but the Polish stopper was out quickly to make the save.
And things went from bad to worse for Millwall when defender Murray Wallace was sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence.
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "It was a performance for me that lacked bravery. We were a yard off the pace all over the pitch. When we score we suddenly want the ball and start looking quite bright with a bit of zip about us but I've just said to the player we have to do that at 0-0 because that's how you win games.
"The last 14 or 15 games we've not been good enough and it's not acceptable. We've had eight players with Covid-19 in the last two weeks and five of them started today. I don't know what the effect of that is but certainly we looked a bit off the pace physically. It certainly wasn't the only factor though and it was a poor performance today - we deserved to lose by more."
Coventry's Mark Robins: "I thought we were brilliant, really, really good. We could have won by a lot more but Bartosz Bialkowski is a top goalkeeper who made some really good saves and they made some really good blocks in front of goal as well. The first goal was a brilliant shot from Shipley that hit the post and bounced in off a defender and that probably needed to happen to loosen the shackles.
"And from then, Shippers (Shipley) was unlucky with a screamer of a left foot that hit the inside of the upright and came back out and another one - the volley that got blocked and there was a shout for a penalty. Callum O'Hare had a brilliant chance where he could have finished it off, and Ben Sheaf in the first half where he should have scored. So we created a lot of opportunities and that was because we played with a tempo. So it was a really good performance."
