Pritchard's reaction, Lihadji absence and support for Ellis
After his free-kick had led to Sunderland’s equaliser at Millwall, Alex Pritchard immediately turned and pointed towards the away dugout.
The Black Cats playmaker had received constant abuse from the home supporters due to his West Ham connections, yet he made a significant impact off the bench here.
Sunderland’s elation after drawing level nine minutes from time quickly turned to concern as goalscorer Dennis Cirkin stayed down after being clattered inside the Millwall box.
Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray confirmed after the game the defender ‘was out cold’ with concussion, before he got back to his feet and was able to walk off the pitch to be substituted.
After a lively 1-1 draw, here are some of the other moments you may have missed.
Why George Honeyman’s goal was ruled out:
Millwall thought they had opened the scoring in the first half, yet the goal scored by former Sunderland captain George Honeyman was ruled out.
Honeyman converted the rebound after goalkeeper Anthony Patterson had spilled Zian Flemming’s longrange effort, before it was deemed George Saville was
standing in an offside position, obstructing the keeper’s view, when the original shot was taken.
After a conversation between referee Thomas Bramall and the linesman, it was decided the goal wouldn’t stand.
Support for Ellis Taylor:
During the pre-match warmup, Sunderland players wore t-shirts to show their support for team-mate Ellis Taylor, whose father passed away last week.
The T-shirts read: ‘We are all with you Ellis,’ while the
19-year-old did travel with the squad despite not being named on the bench.
Isaac Lihadji’s absence:
One player who wasn’t with the squad was new signing Isaac Lihadji.
The French winger, 20, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal on Wearside but the club are still going through the full process of his registration.
Lihadji had a meeting to try and finalise that process on Friday, but will have to wait a little longer to make his Black Cats debut.
Striker Joe Gelhardt was able to make his first Sunderland appearance after being named in the starting XI, while defender Joe Anderson also made his debut, after arriving from Everton, by coming off the bench with five minutes remaining.
A warm reception for Duncan Watmore:
Honeyman wasn’t the only former Sunderland player in Millwall’s squad, as Duncan Watmore came off the bench to make his Lions debut.
The 28-year-old was applauded by the away supporters after jogging down the touchline while warming up in the first half.
Watmore was then brought on at half-time to replace the injured Mason Bennett, who suffered a significant injury and had to be stretchered off the pitch.
A bumper crowd at The Den:
The sell-out crowd of 18,524 meant Millwall recorded their biggest attendance at The Den since 1995.
Around 2,800 made the trip from Sunderland for the club’s second successive game in London.