Millwall vs Nottingham Forest. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Millwall and Nottingham Forest at The Den as Lewis Grabban followed up his FA Cup winner against Arsenal with the deciding goal in the capital
Saturday 15 January 2022 19:08, UK
Lewis Grabban's dramatic stoppage-time winner settled an entertaining contest at the Den as Nottingham Forest beat Millwall 1-0.
Defeat was cruel on the hosts, who were the better side for large periods of the first half.
Forest were much improved after the interval and had several chances before Grabban - a former Lion - poked home from a yard out right at the death.
It was Benik Afobe who engineered the opening chance of the game, and it was all his own work.
A clever shimmy saw him lose Joe Worrall with ease, before racing into the Forest penalty area and hitting one from close range, turned round his post by Brice Samba.
Sheyi Ojo and Tom Bradshaw then combined for the latter to deliver a superb, skidding cross right in front of Samba. Scott Malone was a whisker away from turning the ball in to give his side the lead which their start deserved but, urged on by an appreciative home crowd, they continued to probe.
Ojo was beginning to run proceedings in midfield and his pinpoint cross, midway through the half, found Danny McNamara at the back post. He could not quite head the ball back into the danger area, Samba smothering the danger quickly.
It took almost 25 minutes for Forest to work Bartosz Bialkowski in the Millwall goal, Aston Villa loanee Keinan Davis the man to alleviate some of the pressure on his defensive colleagues.
The game really came to life just before the break as Forest rallied.
A positive surge forward from Davis saw him bring Grabban into the game and he intelligently delayed his pass until Ryan Yates had arrived into the penalty area unmarked. Either side of Bialkowski would have been enough, but he did not sufficiently test the Millwall keeper.
Yates had a cross scrambled off the line moments later as Millwall were asked questions in their own third for the first time and they were dealt a significant blow with the loss of Ojo, who landed awkwardly after going up for a header.
Steve Cooper evidently had a few words to say at half-time, with Forest much better in the second period.
Grabban, who had largely cut an isolated figure up to that point, and Yates might have had two in a minute, only to be denied by McNamara's sharp reactions on the line and a point-blank, diving save from Bialkowski.
The final 10 minutes saw the sides go toe to toe, with action at both ends.
Grabban missed an open goal two minutes from time, failing to connect with Brennan Johnson's cross, before Afobe was somehow kept out by Samba low down to his right.
In a thrilling finale, it was Forest skipper Grabban who had the last word.
Philip Zinckernagel tip-toed past three blue shirts to carve open the Millwall rearguard and with Bialkowski committed, Grabban just had to usher the ball home in front of the Forest faithful to finally deliver the game's telling blow.
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "It's a bitter pill to swallow, but that's Championship football. The game becomes end-to-end, and you've got to take your chances. What you can't do is make silly decisions. It's just little moments we perhaps need to manage a bit better and whether that's the individual player that's doing it or other players around, it's just saying 'wait'. I appreciate we want to win the game but there has to be a relevant chance of winning in that moment - otherwise you see what happens.
"We started the first half in the ascendancy - we were the better team and had good chances early on and their keeper has made a couple of really good saves. I thought it was a good, entertaining game where both teams were trying to win. It's a real disappointment because you work hard all season. We've played really well recently and it was another strong home performance, with lots of positives. But when you lose a game in the 92nd minute, it just feels like a bitter blow."
Nottingham Forest's Steve Cooper: "We knew coming into it this is one of the toughest places to come and play, and to get a result. I think we had over 20 shots in the second half and I'm glad one went in in the end. We didn't start the game so well. It was becoming that game that we knew it might be, but we didn't help ourselves if truth be told. On the half hour we started to settle, and half-time came at the wrong time when Yatesey [Ryan Yates] missed a really good chance.
"They created a couple of moments in the second half but on the basis of number of chances created, I thought we were worth it in the end. Lewis is finding the right places at the moment and we looked fit and strong in those last 20 minutes when we were never going to settle for a draw. We might have accepted it, but we were never going to settle for it."
