Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Birmingham and Millwall at St Andrew's as the Blues and the Lions played out a goalless draw on Saturday afternoon that did little for either side
Saturday 28 November 2020 18:46, UK
Draw specialists Birmingham and Millwall ground out another stalemate in a 0-0 deadlock in the fog at St Andrew's.
Chances were thin on the ground as Blues made it seven draws this season - their third in a row - and the visitors eight, including each of their last five.
Both teams lacked the guile to create chances and the penetration to finish off the rare opportunities that came along in a largely dull affair that will not live long in the memory.
Millwall had the first chance when on-loan Tottenham forward Troy Parrott missed a cross from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson from close range in the 17th minute.
The youngster seemed surprised the ball reached him as defender Marc Roberts had slid in ahead of him.
In a very dour opening, there was a booking for each side either side of the mid-point of the first half.
Jed Wallace received a yellow card for pulling back Ivan Sanchez and Jonathan Leko had his name taken for kicking the ball away at a free-kick.
Birmingham, who could not register new signing Alen Halilovic in time, had an opportunity when George Friend crossed from the left, but Maxime Colin could not reach the ball under pressure from a defender on 32 minutes.
The best move of the half saw Blues create another opportunity.
Leko found Colin on the overlap and the latter crossed but it was fractionally too high for Lukas Jutkiewicz, who headed over, missing the chance to score his 50th goal for the club after striking the 100th league goal of his career against Luton in midweek.
Millwall missed a golden chance when Bodvarsson sent a bullet header wide from Jed Wallace's corner in the 50th minute.
Blues responded with a glancing header from Kristian Pedersen from Sanchez's cross that drifted over the bar.
A free-kick from Jed Wallace caused panic in the Blues' penalty area and there was a frantic scramble in front of goal before the home side gratefully cleared the ball behind for a corner.
There was a half chance for Millwall when substitute Matt Smith guided a header from a deep pass to the feet of Bodvarsson, but the ball appeared to come to the Iceland international too quickly and he was unable to adjust his feet in time, the ball running harmlessly behind.
At the other end, substitute Jeremie Bela could only direct a header into the side-netting from Sanchez's cross.
The first meaningful save of the game came in the 88th minute, when Roberts's towering header was pushed away by Bartosz Bialkowski from Sanchez's corner.
That was followed by a more spectacular stop at the other end from Neil Etheridge, who tipped away an overhead kick from Murray Wallace in the 90th minute to keep the scores level.
Birmingham's Aitor Karanka: "Of course - patience is needed. I was only at Nottingham Forest for one year but I followed something Brian Clough said which was 'Rome wasn't built in one day because he wasn't there'.
"It will come. I can feel the progression of the team and this is the way. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon and it's a long job. I am calm - I promise them we are in a good way."
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "Are we setting out to draw games? No. We're trying to win games, we're making attacking changes but we're very limited at the moment because of injuries.
"Our away form has been excellent in terms of the points we've got, our defensive record is stunning with the amount of clean sheets we've had, we've had big chances in a lot of those games. I appreciate people are frustrated - I'm sure our fans are because it looks like we're going away to get draws but we're certainly not trying to do that."
