Watford vs Millwall. Sky Bet Championship.
Vicarage RoadAttendance20,204.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Watford and Millwall at Vicarage Road as Andreas Voglsammer and Zian Flemming scored after Hassane Kamara was sent off for the Hornets.
Monday 26 December 2022 15:58, UK
Millwall kept the pressure on in the battle for the Championship's play-off places with a comfortable 2-0 win at Watford.
Goals from Andreas Voglsammer and Zian Flemming saw the Lions move just two points behind their top-six rivals.
The home side were reduced to 10 men in the 38th minute when Hassane Kamara was sent off but they were comprehensively outplayed on their own turf.
Millwall started brightly and Jake Cooper just failed to get on the end of a Flemming cross after just a minute.
Daniel Bachmann nearly gifted the south London side a goal after six minutes, when an attempted clearance fell to the feet of Tom Bradshaw. However, the Watford goalkeeper made immediate amends when he palmed away the follow-up effort from the forward.
Murray Wallace lifted his effort just over the bar after 14 minutes, while Bachmann saved from a George Saville shot on the edge of the area.
The visitors finally took a deserved lead after 22 minutes, when Bradshaw laid off to Voglsammer who shot down low past Bachmann - his first goal in a Millwall shirt.
The German almost made it 2-0 five minutes later when he forced the Watford keeper into another save, after he pounced on a Cooper header.
Watford looked out of sorts, and their woes were further compounded when Joao Pedro had to be substituted after 35 minutes, with Yaser Asprilla his replacement.
They went down to 10 men three minutes later when Kamara clashed with keeper George Long.
The defender then floored Danny McNamara, who appeared to stick a leg out at the Watford player, and referee Josh Smith showed a red card to the Watford player.
There was no obvious sign of Millwall letting up after the restart. They pushed for a second goal and Bachmann had to collect a long-range Saville effort 12 minutes after the break.
Voglsammer looked to have netted the second goal his side deserved after 64 minutes, but his looped effort was directed on to the crossbar and away.
Watford were always in the game with just a one-goal deficit, and Ismaila Sarr was denied by some last-gasp tackling from the Millwall backline a minute later.
The hosts finally put on a bit of pressure and Kiernan Davis fired over the bar on the turn.
Voglsammer was guilty of putting his effort wide after 73 minutes, but the south London side finally earned their second goal with seven minutes left.
A free-kick outside the box by the corner was delivered Flemming and ended up in the net without taking a touch from another player.
Long had to pull off a fine save in added time from substitute Asprilla, but the Boxing Day afternoon belonged to Millwall.
Watford's Slaven Bilic: "Very disappointed, it is very hard to explain this performance from us for part of the game. We had a great week of training, with intensity and everything. It was all good and positive. In the second half we tried to be solid and stay in the game, and to make a couple of chances.
"The sending off was fair, it was reckless and you can't react like that. He was provoked, but footballers get provoked all the time. I told him at half-time it was unacceptable. Those things happen but if you do that then your chances of winning a game drop like crazy."
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "Lots to be pleased about today, I don't want the sending off to overshadow the fact I thought we were outstanding against the 11 men earlier on. Today we had to mix up the performance, and there were times we had to step up and press really well and aggressively.
"I was really impressed with the start of the game, especially as we haven't played for a while. You always worry if you start a little bit sluggishly. We thoroughly deserved the goal. The red card looked clear to me, he struck Danny McNamara in the face, you can't raise your hands. When we went two goals up they had two or three little opportunities and I was a little disappointed."
