Millwall vs Sheffield Wednesday. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday at The Den on Saturday | Ike Ugbo and Anthony Musaba boost Owls survival hopes with win at struggling Lions.
Saturday 17 February 2024 18:36, UK
Anthony Musaba scored one goal and made another as Sheffield Wednesday extended Millwall's winless run to eight matches with a 2-0 victory at The Den.
The Owls had only scored seven away goals all season ahead of the crucial clash, but they were in front at the break after Musaba set up Ike Ugbo before finding the back of the net himself.
The Lions fought desperately during an improved second-half performance but failed to carve out many clear-cut chances on their way to their fourth consecutive defeat and seventh in that eight-game run.
The hosts started brightly as they looked to bounce back from their crushing defeat at the hands of Ipswich, Tom Bradshaw heading wide from the centre of the penalty area inside five minutes.
The crowd came alive after a crunching challenge from right wing-back Danny McNamara.
The Owls struggled to build momentum during the opening 20 minutes, with their only real threat coming from balls in behind to Troyes loanee Ugbo.
However, in the 31st minute, the Canada international tapped home from close range to give his side the lead following a sensational run and cross from Musaba.
Ryan Leonard produced a long-range shot from the edge of the box as the Lions tried to muster a response but things soon went from bad to worse for Joe Edwards' side.
Wednesday stalwart Barry Bannan found Musaba with a delicious pass and the Dutch winger made no mistake, stroking the ball past Matija Sarkic and into the bottom right corner for his sixth goal of the season.
That sparked jubilant scenes in the away end, while Millwall's players faced a chorus of boos at the half-time whistle.
Zian Flemming almost got his side back in the game after the break, forcing an excellent stop from James Beadle before getting on the end of the resulting corner.
Then the Lions' top scorer won a free-kick on the edge of the box, only to see it rebound off the wall and away to safety.
The hosts almost reduced the deficit to one in the 63rd minute but Duncan Watmore's driven effort was cleared off the line by Di'Shon Bernard.
Flemming had a penalty appeal waved away by referee Geoff Eltringham with 20 minutes left after a collision with Marvin Johnson inside the penalty area.
Then seven minutes later, Aidomo Emakhu beat his man before conjuring a driven delivery across goal that ultimately came to nothing.
The hosts deserved something for their efforts in the second half but nobody could get on the end of Ryan Longman's fantastic cross after some nice work from Flemming in the build-up.
Wednesday's Ashley Fletcher was shown a red card for a second bookable offence in stoppage time, but it made no difference as Millwall slipped within a point of the relegation zone.
Millwall's Joe Edwards:
"Southampton will be a tough game and not to declare an official relegation fight, but we are clearly down that part of the league. We are creeping towards that part of the season where it is important we get points on the board.
"Having been there and lived it before, there is no point really getting drawn into playing the fixtures predictions game. You never know, we will go to Southampton with absolute belief.
"And who knows, a game like today - which is a should-win in many people's eyes - maybe the pressure got to us a bit and it ends up being a difficult day, but that could be the turning point.
"That is what football is about, we are not going there to roll over and wait for the next game, we have to go there and find some belief through what is a really really tough period.
"The only way is back in on Monday, stick together, stand up and go and face what is a really tough challenge on Saturday and beyond."
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"It was a difficult one, we know that coming here is not easy. When I looked at the game against Ipswich, the first 15 minutes I thought Millwall were very strong.
"I think that was the key today, we spoke about making the difference between home and away, I think at home we have had a lot of good performances and good results.
"It was a clear message today, make the difference in every duel and win the second ball.
"I think the two goals we scored were exactly what we wanted, to find the two number 10s and then speed up the game.
"It was great - I would describe today as adult football, if you know what I mean?
"The last few weeks we have spoken about performance away. Today was about taking results, we did well as a team and showed as a team what we have to do in our situation."
