Millwall vs Preston North End; Sky Bet Championship
Millwall vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
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Millwall 1-1 Preston North End: Lions gifted a point in feisty encounter at The Den
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Preston North End at The Den on Saturday; Goalkeepering howler gifts Mihailo Ivanovic chance to earn a point for the Lions.
Saturday 8 November 2025 15:48, UK
An awful error from goalkeeper Daniel Iversen was costly for Preston at Millwall as they came away from The Den with a 1-1 draw.
In a clash between teams who began Saturday in the top six of the Sky Bet Championship, it was Preston who struck first when Michael Smith pounced on a mistake by Lions' Camiel Neghli.
However, Iversen's air kick led to Mihailo Ivanovic cancelling out the Lilywhites' lead as they missed out on the opportunity to go second in the table ahead of the afternoon kick-offs.
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Millwall had a good chance to take the lead in only the second minute when Aidomo Emakhu put Tristan Crama in behind, with the latter's low ball finding Neghli who wastefully shot over.
A lively start at both ends then saw Preston come close themselves as Stefan Thordarson's shot from just outside the area was pushed away by Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe.
The visitors were then gifted the lead in the 15th minute when a poor back pass by Neghli was seized on by Smith who clipped the ball beyond Crocombe with a first-time finish.
The mistake rocked the Lions for a short while but they almost drew level after a corner was cleared as far as Derek Mazou-Sacko whose shot was cleared from close to his goal line by Preston captain Ben Whiteman.
Having been presented with the opening goal, the Lilywhites returned the favour in the 36th minute when Iversen kicked fresh air from Liam Lindsay's throw back to him, giving Ivanovic an open net to equalise into.
Millwall then almost completed the turnaround three minutes before half-time when Caleb Taylor shot wide on the turn after Jake Cooper had helped on Emakhu's corner.
The game remained level at the break and it also remained error-strewn in the early stages of the second half with both teams guilty of making sloppy mistakes when under no real pressure.
The Lions came close to going ahead with an hour gone when Ivanovic met Crama's cross at the near post, with Iversen sharply turning his effort behind.
Chances then came at either end, with Casper De Norre shooting narrowly wide from the edge of the area for Millwall before Smith's effort on the turn was off-target.
Another error nearly led to Preston going back in front when Thierry Small's shot squirmed under Crocombe, who was relieved to see the ball trickle wide rather than into his net.
And there was a further chance for the Lilywhites to snatch it in the 88th minute when substitute Lewis Dobbin cut inside before seeing his shot saved by Crocombe's legs.
The managers
Millwall's Alex Neil:
"I thought first half we were good - we obviously get the mistake that Daniel makes, which was fortunate for us and we managed to get ourselves back in the game.
"I actually thought we started the second half pretty well, I thought we were probably the better team for that spell and I thought the game changed when they brought the subs on the pitch.
"I thought Dobbin and Small and Devine looked bright, they looked fresh and the difficulty you've got is if you look back at the game over 90 minutes, I would probably say that we edged it.
"We had more opportunities in the game than them but then the game finishes in the manner which it does in the last 10 minutes with them getting the better chances.
"It leaves you with a feeling of 'yeah, take the point', so I didn't think we deserved to lose the game."
Preston's Paul Heckingbottom:
"It was a beauty, wasn't it? I've seen a few of them before from goalkeepers - it's never nice when it happens to your team or for the keeper involved.
"I'm really pleased he made a good save in the second half because other than that he was pretty quiet.
"He came for a good cross at the end but again he was protected really well by the team in front of him.
"He's a great character, he's played a lot of games and he knows how valuable he is to us. It's just frustrating when it does cost you points in a game.
"You always want three [points] but I really enjoyed watching us second half in a game that did lack quality, let's be honest.
"There were good moments but second half I loved the mentality we showed and how combative we were. I really enjoyed the second half."
