Lions are roaring up towards play-offs
MILLWALL boss Gary Rowett played down his side’s play-off chances despite seeing the Lions make it four wins in five.
They had to be patient against Reading when, having been the better side in the first period, second-half goals from Matt Smith and substitute Jon Dadi Bodvarsson secured victory.
“We navigated the game really well,” said Rowett. “Our persistence, energy and determination opened the game up.
“I don’t think anyone expects us to be in and around the play-offs at the end of the season.
“Everyone can see potential. We’ve performed well and the spirit is unbelievable, probably the best I’ve seen at any club.”
Smith opened the scoring in the 71st minute with a left-footed strike into the far corner after Reading had failed to deal with a Jed Wallace cross.
They made the game safe 11 minutes later when Wallace raced half the length of the field before slipping in Bodvarsson who curled home.
The match was temporarily halted in the first half when referee Keith Stroud spoke to both managers.
It prompted an anti-homophobia announcement to be made over the PA system.
“The linesman heard a comment and he had to report it to the referee,” said Rowatt.
“The club have worked hard to make sure things like that happen here. It’s certainly something we condone and the club will investigate.”
MIKEL ARTETA had warned his Arsenal stars that they couldn’t afford to switch off for ‘even two seconds’ in his pre-match programme notes.
And you have to imagine he’d said as much to them in the build-up to Sheffield United’s visit if only to save his players the bother of having to read them before kick-off.
The message – however it was delivered – clearly hadn’t sunk in, though, because Chris Wilder’s men took advantage of a late second-half lapse to score their equaliser.
John Fleck drilled a volley into the ground and it took the slightest of defections off Ainsley Maitland-Niles before bouncing over Bernd Leno and into the Arsenal goal.
The strike earned the Blades a point they didn’t really look like collecting from the moment Gabriel Martinelli, starting in place of the injured Reiss Nelson, put the Gunners ahead at the end of a forgettable first half.
There had been the odd flash of skill from Nicolas Pepe, who has failed to set the Premier League alight since his
£72million summer move from Lille, to excite the home fans but other than that it was not a 45-minute period that will live long in the memory.
The same could be said of the second
45 too, with the home side looking like they’d done just about enough to carve out a second Premier League win in six games under Arteta.
Instead, they ended up with their third draw under the Spaniard and very nearly tasted defeat when the ball fell to the feet of Oli McBurnie in a decent position.
But his effort was charged down and the Welshman had no reason, this week, to raise his hands in the air. Arsenal boss Arteta argued that his side should have had a penalty when Pepe went down under a challenge from Jack O’Connell.
Referee Mike Dean, celebrating his 500th Premier League game as an official, had waved play on and VAR Martin Atkinson agreed with his decision.
“It was very clear,” said Arteta, when asked about it after the game.
“I am very disappointed. The performance deserved three points. We lost two points but in the Premier League if you don’t put the game to bed you know in the last 10 or 15 minutes,