Millwall vs Derby County. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Millwall and Derby County at The Den as the 10-man Rams held on for a point after Nathan Byrne's second-half red card on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 6 November 2021 18:40, UK
Millwall were held to a 1-1 draw at home by 10-man Derby, despite Scott Malone striking against his old club at The Den.
Malone's leveller quickly cancelled out Festy Ebosele's first senior goal for the rock-bottom Rams, which briefly threatened to end their six-game winless run.
The visitors had other chances to do so in a game that livened up after a slow start, but they were happy to come away from south London with a point, following Nathan Byrne's red card.
Derby had an early opening when Jason Knight's cut-back ran for Ebosele, whose effort from point-blank range was bravely blocked by George Saville.
It was then Jake Cooper's turn to throw his body in the way to prevent Millwall from falling behind, as he got in the way of Sam Baldock's effort, with the Rams continuing their good start.
It took 43 minutes for either goalkeeper to be worked, as Derby captain Tom Lawrence's free-kick was held by Bartosz Bialkowski.
But it sparked a late frenzy in what had been a quiet first half, as the visitors went ahead through Ebosele's first-time finish after he was found in space by Lawrence, following an error by Cooper.
Millwall quickly equalised in first-half stoppage time, however, as Malone was picked out on the left before the wide man fired a fine strike across Kelle Roos and into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Jed Wallace had a chance to complete the turnaround early in the second half, as he got away from Curtis Davies down the left, but Roos came out to make a good stop.
The Lions really should have hit the front just after the hour mark when Wallace cut the ball back from the left for the unmarked Saville, but he could only side-foot wide.
Derby almost made the most of this let-off, as Knight was given space to advance before Bialkowski did just enough to keep out his effort.
The Rams were then reduced to 10 men after 64 minutes, as Byrne was sent off for his second yellow card, as he brought down Mason Bennett.
They still almost regained the lead four minutes later when Baldock was able to cut inside before his shot was kept out by Bialkowski's legs.
Benik Afobe was then almost Millwall's match-winner for the second time this week, but his overhead kick from Wallace's deflected cross by pushed away by Roos.
Malone then almost broke the visitors' hearts with two minutes to go when his dipping effort from 25 yards went just over, as Wayne Rooney's side's efforts were rewarded with a point.
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "I think [Derby] turned up and showed a brilliant response from the Barnsley defeat. I just think, after the first 10 minutes, we didn't do things with enough conviction. For some reason, at home, we seem to just be a little bit edgy, we didn't move the ball well enough and I just don't think we played with enough belief.
"I said at half-time we scored a good goal at the right time - it was an excellent goal, a great bit of play by Jed that put Scotty Malone in for a brilliant finish. That was after us conceding a horrendous goal, on our behalf. We just overplayed, we tried to go backwards when we had a chance to play forwards and we end up making a mistake for their goal. I would say, at that point, it was deserved because they moved the ball really well."
Derby's Wayne Rooney: "Talking 90 minutes, we've probably done enough to win the game. In the first half, especially, we were dominating possession and also creating chances. The second half we started a bit slow, then we get the red card, but the lads showed their character.
"It's always tough when you go down to 10 men, in terms of: do we go to a back five and defend the box? Obviously, we knew Matt Smith would come on at some point and he's a threat, so I wanted to keep the lads up the pitch as well to try and still win the game because I felt we still could. There were gaps there and we had a few good chances when we went to 10 men so, overall, a point is never bad away from home, but I felt we could have got three today."
