OLI DAY FOR THE EAGLES
Michael makes up for goalie’s howler
PATRICK VIEIRA praised matchwinner Michael Olise and his Palace stars for bailing out calamity keeper Jack Butland.
Ex-england stopper Butland was at fault with a howler, giving Millwall an early lead – and putting them on course for a cupset.
But winger Olise levelled with a cracker after the break before carving out the decisive winner for Jean-philippe Mateta.
Afterwards, thrilled Eagles boss Vieira (below) said: “In the second half, as a team, we wanted to win to give support to Jack.
“We’d conceded with a mistake from him, but that’s the way we play. This can happen. I was really pleased with our character and determination to do that.
“Michael struggled a bit in the first half, but we saw a very different player in the second – and his goal showed his great quality.”
The Lions had a lightning start, winning a corner after only 60 seconds.
Then Benik Afobe slapped high and wide in the eighth minute.
Palace, on the other hand, barely made it out their own half before they fell behind.
And it was due to Butland committing footballing suicide inside his six-yard area on 17 minutes.
He should have known better than to take three touches, let alone a fourth... as two Millwall players bore down on him. Seconds later he dropped to his knees with head hung in shame after his miscontrol allowed Afobe to slot the ball in.
The miserable, wet grey skies suddenly looked much brighter for Gary Rowett’s troops.
By contrast, Vieira was prowling his technical area amid relentless abuse from the home fans, many of whom had booed when Palace took the knee before the start of the game.
Yet his mere presence prompted a belated reaction from his own team – and their man of the season to date, Conor Gallagher, was inches away with a 20-yarder.
Then just before the break Olise had a strong penalty appeal rejected by referee Anthony Taylor. No VAR meant no chance of any overrule.
If cursing not having Stockley Park on hand to intervene there, it
MILLWALL: Long 7, Hutchinson 7, Pearce 8 (Bennett 62, 6), Cooper 7, Mcnamara 7, Mitchell 8, Saville 7 (Kieftenbeld 49, 6), Malone 7, Ojo 7 (Boateng 81), Bradshaw 8 (Smith 81), Afobe 8 (Burey 81).
Evans, Bialkowski, Topalloj, Lovelace.
Butland 4, Ward 6, Andersen 6, Guehi 7, Mitchell 6, Schlupp 6 (Riedewald 88), Gallagher 7, Hughes 7 (Milivojevic 81), Eze 7 (Benteke 64, 6), Mateta 7 (Édouard 64, 6), Olise 8 (Clyne 88). Matthews, Kelly, Rak-sakyik, Wells-morrison.
Michael Olise. Turned tie on its head with a sensational 20-minute spell after was the reverse when Palace equalised just after half-time.
Gallagher fed Olise, who cut in off the right flank and curled a peach into the far corner. The fact that Jean-philippe Mateta was offside in the build-up was academic.
After Olise struck the post with an identical effort minutes later, he then set up Mateta to head the visitors in front on 68 minutes.
Cue flares from the Palace end – and flying bottles from Millwall fans aimed at Mateta and pals.
Gallagher, on the receiving end of homophobic chants, missed a great chance to put the tie to bed.
Millwall boss Rowett said:“We handed them two goals, which were very disappointing. You can’t do that against Premier League opponents.”