Millwall vs Queens Park Rangers; Sky Bet Championship
Millwall vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
The DenAttendance2,000.
Millwall 1-1 QPR: Lions earn draw after Den crowd cheers QPR taking a knee
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Millwall and QPR at The Den as Jon Dadi Bodvarsson scored equaliser for the Lions after Ilias Chair had put Rangers in front on Tuesday night
Tuesday 8 December 2020 23:43, UK
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson came off the bench to salvage Millwall a 1-1 draw against QPR following a more positive night off the pitch for the Lions.
Rangers had led through Ilias Chair's superb opener in the early stages of the second half and they had chances to add to their lead before ultimately being pegged back.
It meant the hosts' run without a win was extended to nine games, but there was no repeat of their fans booing players taking a knee before kick-off, as was the case against Derby last Saturday, which drew widespread condemnation.
Plenty of attention was placed on what would happen at The Den, but their supporters applauded their players standing arm-in-arm with QPR's.
There was also respect shown to the visitors taking a knee before attention switched to the football and it was the Lions who started the brighter, with Shaun Williams sending a good effort from long range wide.
Rangers' Dominic Ball was then booked for diving while under pressure from Jake Cooper in the penalty area with just 16 minutes gone.
Bartosz Bialkowski was called into action for the first time when he held on to Geoff Cameron's low drive before Tottenham loanee Troy Parrott shot straight at Seny Dieng.
It was the last opening either team created for a while, with moves quickly breaking down in midfield from two out-of-form teams.
Mason Bennett tried to open the game up by shooting on the turn from just outside the area, but his effort flew over the bar, as a disappointing first half came to a close.
Thankfully, there was some excitement within a minute of the restart, as Ball tried to place one from the edge of the area, but Bialkowski got down to push it away.
QPR then broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion in the 53rd minute when Tom Carroll found Chair in space and the Moroccan fired a terrific shot from outside the box that flew past Bialkowski, celebrating by taking a knee.
Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes had a great chance to quickly double the visitors' lead when he was found in space by Chair's lay-off, but he could only shoot at Bialkowski.
Mark Warburton's side had another big opportunity when Bright Osayi-Samuel got on the end of Niko Hamalainen's chip ahead, but Bialkowski came out to block well.
The Pole continued to keep Millwall in the game when he got down well to keep out another effort from Chair.
His heroics proved vital, as the Lions equalised with 20 minutes left when Jed Wallace's cross ran for Bodvarsson, whose shot was deflected in just six minutes after the Icelander had been brought on.
What the managers said...
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "The hardest thing over the last three or four days as the manager of the team has been to try and focus on football and that's all we really want to do. But of course this is an incredibly important time, an incredibly important opportunity for us all to use sport to highlight the good areas that clubs are doing.
"I think now it's probably time for other people to stand up and actually try and get change. I think Millwall has always stood together. That's part of the motto of the club. They've always stood together as a little bit of an underdog and I'm proud of that effort tonight."
QPR's Mark Warburton: "It was important to come here and show a committed performance - it's a tough place to come at any time in the season. They are very good at what they do and they've had no wins in eight so they were out tonight, desperate to get the three points.
"To a man we were below par against Huddersfield. Maybe that's the game where everything caught up with us. It was a good performance tonight but the games keep coming. But we've got good players, good quality and we have to have that belief and desire to go and show it."
