Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Queens Park Rangers at The Den on Boxing Day | Tom Bradshaw and Murray Wallace steer Lions back to winning ways.
Tuesday 26 December 2023 17:16, UK
Tom Bradshaw and Murray Wallace scored as Millwall beat QPR 2-0 to end a three-month wait for a home Championship win.
Bradshaw put the Lions in front with their only shot on target in the first half before Wallace made sure of all three points in second-half stoppage time.
Millwall applied pressure in the opening stages at The Den, with George Honeyman's first-time side-footed volley dropping wide of the post, and he also curled a free-kick over the crossbar after Jimmy Dunne pulled down Bradshaw on the edge of the box.
Rangers enjoyed 65 per cent of the possession in the first half but failed to turn that into challenging moments for home keeper Matija Sarkic.
Their best moment before the break came after Paul Smyth nicked the ball past Jake Cooper in the 27th minute but George Saville cut out the Rangers winger's cross.
A toothless half from both sides ended in delight for the hosts, as they went in front in the third minute of additional time through Wales international Bradshaw.
Only Saville will know whether he was shooting or providing a cross to the far post for the striker to slide the ball into the net for his third goal of the campaign, and just Millwall's 10th league goal in 12 matches on home turf.
Aidomo Emakhu tested Asmir Begovic in the 49th minute, the QPR keeper turning the near-post attempt around the post after Kenneth Paal was too easily brushed to the ground by the young Irishman.
Rangers were presented with a chance from Emakhu's misplaced pass in the 62nd minute but Ilias Chair produced a tame, low right-footed shot which was easily held by Sarkic and then Reggie Cannon's first-time shot from Paal's cross flashed across the face of goal.
Millwall substitute Zian Flemming whipped a left-footed effort narrowly past Begovic's left post as the hosts looked to kill the contest off.
The fourth official had only just held up the board to show an additional 10 minutes of stoppage time when Wallace made it 2-0, the Scottish defender converting from close range after Begovic failed to punch clear a Honeyman corner.
Kevin Nisbet was then put through by Flemming, only to find the side-netting as the hosts looked for a third goal.
But Millwall had done more than enough for a first victory at The Den since September 20, ending a seven-match winless run in the league. For QPR it was a third straight loss and they remained in the relegation zone.
Millwall's Joe Edwards:
"I've got a lot of belief in this team but when you're on a difficult run then you do really have to dig in and keep going.
"That was what the performance showed today because these games - when they are London derbies and two teams in a difficult position - it creates a bit of tension around them.
"You aren't always going to get free-flowing, attractive games but we showed enough quality in spells to see signs of where we want to head.
"It's definitely a relief - relief at the end of the run and relief when you know there is going to be that much added time going on (10 minutes), particularly after the way the last home game went (conceding stoppage-time penalty in draw against Huddersfield on December 16).
"Ultimately it was about our spirit today and we were difficult to play against. QPR played some nice football without ever really hurting us too much. I don't think Matty Sarkic has made a save really.
"Those basics we want to be about, the fundamentals before we talk about playing any football, they need to be there.
"It was there today and gets us a clean sheet. Two consecutive clean sheets means four points. We need to remember that and keep building on it."
QPR's Marti Cifuentes:
"It's a poor performance - perhaps the worst since I've been here. We didn't start the game well. Millwall pressed really, really high - very aggressive - and we didn't find a way to beat that pressure.
"We lacked the capacity to understand the space today was behind their back line. We had to activate the runs from behind.
"We tried to adjust this in the first half. From minute 30 we started to understand this a little bit better but then in a minute we should never concede a goal, we concede a goal. We concede because we try to do it but then the team doesn't travel in a compact way, so the space for the second ball is too big.
"We had the quality to break lines and travel together at the start of the second half and got some situations inside the box through Lyndon (Dykes) and Illy (Chair).
"Perhaps through the second half we start to drop a little bit and the last 15 minutes before injury time were not great. When we concede a second goal from a set-piece then obviously the game is over.
"When you win games then everything is much easier. When you do not get those wins, you need much more personality to go through."
