Defence? Mo good
GARY ROWETT accused his Millwall players of wilting under the pressure as their play-off bid went up in smoke.
The Lions lost an incredible seven-goal London derby that could have ended up being a cricket score.
Starting the day two points behind sixth-placed Cardiff, Millwall were left stunned by outof-form QPR who won it thanks to Conor Masterson, Ryan Manning, Ebere Eze and Todd Kane efforts.
And upset boss Rowett (below) said: “I wouldn’t describe it as a great game of football, unfortunately.
“I’m disappointed. I could stand here and say we’ve come so far, done so well and I’m so proud but that’s not me.
“When the pressure was on, we were not able to step up and handle it very well. Defensively we looked very vulnerable.
“We can’t play the little old Millwall card anymore. We needed to capitalise on the opportunity, we did not show the relevant work ethic to get the result.”
Despite Rowett’s claims otherwise, this was a genuine thriller from start to finish – a game you simply did not want to end.
The Lions went close early on as sub Jon Dadi Bodvarsson headed against the post shortly after coming on for injury-victim Mason Bennett.
At the other end, Millwall keeper Bartosz Bialkowski made a superb double stop to foil Ilias Chair and Luke Amos.
But it was the hosts who took the lead two minutes before the break.
Yoann Barbet’s header from Eze’s corner was kept out by Bialkowski, only for Masterson to tuck home the rebound for his first Rangers goal. Rowett gambled by throwing on an extra forward in Matt Smith for the second half and the big man needed just four minutes to equalise against his former club, putting into the roof of the net for his 14th of the campaign from Jed Wallace’s pull-back.
The game turned crazy after that. Manning’s low drive from distance should have been kept out by Bialkowski on 52 minutes
– but was not.
The Lions stopper redeemed himself with a superb save to push away Osman Kakay’s effort before Manning hit the bar from range.
Chair then missed a one-on-one as he lost his balance while a superb block by Alex Pearce prevented Amos from finding an empty net.
Millwall though were exposed down the left as Eze stormed through to score on 62 minutes.
The visitors hit back as Shaun Hutchinson headed in at the near post from Wallace’s corner five minutes later. Kane’s diving header
QPR
TONY MOWBRAY knows his Blackburn side must shore up their defence to mount a promotion challenge next season.
Rovers won a thriller against
Reading after sub Sam Gallagher (above) dramatically headed home with three minutes to go.
But the Rovers boss — who saw his side miss out on the play-offs — was disappointed at the goals conceded during the barnstorming encounter.
“It is disappointing to concede three,” he said. “The goals conceded hurt because you can’t be at the top end of the league with 4-3’s each week.
“We started well, but put ourselves under pressure. We can look good, we dominate and yet we scrambled to win. The job is to try and get a team to get out of this league.
“There is an opportunity to change the dynamics of the team and create a fast, exciting football team.”
Ben Brereton got Rovers off to a flyer when he slotted home on three minutes. Adam Armstrong doubled that when he smashed home from outside the box three minutes later, but John Swift got the Royals back into it with a 25-yard free-kick on 15 minutes.
Joe Rothwell doubled Rovers’ advantage again following a trainingground corner on 56 minutes.
Sub Sam Baldock gave reading hope, heading home five minutes after coming on. And the Berkshire boys levelled when Yakou Meite turned home Baldock’s cross on 68 minutes. But Rovers hit them with a sucker punch when Gallagher headed home.
BLACKBURN READING 5 ........ Shots on Target ......... 3 7 ........ Shots off Target ......... 7 5 ................ Corners ................. 4 15 ................. Fouls .................. 13 2 ............... Offsides ................ 0 80.8 Passing Success %.. 67.2 569 ...... Total Passes ......... 317 63.2 ..... Possession % ..... 36.8 49 ..... Territorial Adv % ...... 51