Luton 0-1 Millwall: Mihailo Ivanovic strike sinks struggling Hatters

Millwall ramped up the pressure on struggling Luton by picking up a first away win since October with a 1-0 victory at Kenilworth Road.

There was a dearth of goalscoring opportunities in a scrappy opening 15 minutes, Jacob Brown's blocked shot the closest anyone came.

The Lions were forced into a switch on 17 minutes, Calum Scanlon pulling his hamstring, replaced by former Luton loanee Aaron Connolly

The game did liven up slightly from the half hour mark onwards, Carlton Morris's back post header from Alfie Doughty's corner hitting team-mate Brown, but the forward could not adjust himself, the ball bouncing through to Lukas Jensen.

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Millwall then went close, Connolly picking up possession to have an effort from 20 yards and Thomas Kaminski palming behind.

The Lions were awarded a penalty by referee Gavin Ward on 33 minutes, despite Luton appealing that the ball had gone out in the build-up, when Connolly was tripped by Marvelous Nakamba.

The forward took it himself, firing hard and low, but against the legs of Kaminski who was also able to grab the loose ball before any Millwall attacker could react.

Luton looked to make the most of their reprieve, Morris heading over from a corner to complete a first half that was devoid of any real entertainment.

Five minutes after the break, Town were inches away from breaking the deadlock when Morris's towering header from Clark's deep free kick bounced just the wrong side of a post.

Millwall then came on strong, Duncan Watmore seeing his angled drive flash past a post, before they took the lead on 61 minutes with a goal entirely out of keeping with the quality of the rest of the match. Mihailo Ivanovic struck a brilliant curving volley from the edge of the box that gave Kaminski no chance.

The Serbia international might have made it 2-0 on 68 minutes when left completely unmarked at the back post to volley a right wing cross into the ground which Kaminski tipped over.

Even though Luton needed the points, it was Millwall who continued to have the better chances, Ivanovic once more meeting a corner and his downward header drawing an excellent reaction stop from Kaminski.

Luton almost grabbed a point in the closing stages, Morris' close range effort deflected over and then substitute Elijah Adebayo meeting a corner but heading off target.

Late on, Lions goalkeeper Jensen was carried off on a stretcher, Liam Roberts on for stoppage time, but he was not tested at all as the visitors claimed all three points.

The managers

Luton's Matt Bloomfield:

"I thought we did some good stuff in the first two games this week but the third one wasn't the level that we needed.

"We looked a bit leggy at times, didn't have the same energy, zip and intensity about us.

"I think a few of the boys were playing their third game in a week for quite a while, maybe that showed.

"We made four changes, possibly in hindsight we could have made a few more, but we didn't have the energy that we needed.

"It was a stop-start game, it wasn't a huge footballing spectacle I don't think, it was a game of set-pieces and we didn't quite come out with enough second balls and start to build momentum and keep the ball on the pitch.

"It was too stop-start and ended up being a scrappy affair and it was always probably going to be one goal that made the difference."

Millwall's Alex Neil:

"I thought we played some really good football at times. Naturally it's going to be a bit scrappy, obviously coming to Kenilworth Road is always difficult, but I thought the players were sensational, the performances across the pitch were excellent.

"We lost our goalkeeper, lost our left winger, we're already light in numbers, so for the lads to do what they did today speaks volumes of the character and togetherness of the squad.

"The performance itself, the victory, the manner of how we did it, we had to dig in, you've got to make sure you win the battles and we did that.

"I think strikers feed off confidence and chances. He's (Ivanovic) not started loads of games this season, he's been much more prominent recently.

"He's scored a few goals, scored in the cup, missed a few chances in the cup, scored a great goal today, had another great chance later on, so as a centre forward you can't ask for much more than that.

"It's a tough gig here, he had to lead the line, battle with two centre backs but when that chance presents itself that's what you're here to do and his quality was brilliant."

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