Cooper swoops to haunt Royals
GARY Rowett praised the all-round contribution of Millwall’s stand-in skipper and matchwinner Jake Cooper following victory at struggling Reading.
Centre-back Cooper, a former Reading academy graduate, headed home the only goal of the game in the 37th minute from a Jed Wallace corner.
Although Reading dominated much of the second half, the Millwall defence held firm to secure a fifth successive victory. The Lions are now only three points away from the play-off spots.
“It was a good delivery from Jed Wallace and Jake rises highest against his old club,” said Rowett. “It was a great header and he’s scored a few of them in recent weeks.
“He was excellent. As our captain, he gave a real leadership performance. And to cap it all with a goal that wins it.”
Rowett added: “It’s the Championship and sometimes you have to find differitors ways to win. In this little run we’re on, we’ve done that.
“We knew that Reading would be compact defensively, but we moved the ball quite well up until the final third.
“Reading were going to throw caution to the wind, but we didn’t have too many problems. It’s another big win.”
The Londoners started brightly as Reading opted to sit back and absorb pressure.
Wallace wasted a good chance from a free-kick, ballooning the ball over the bar.
Reading responded quickly with Tom Ince trying his luck from 20 yards, but Bartosz Bialkowski was equal to it.
Millwall regained the initiative, with Cooper heading wide from a deep Danny McNamara cross.
Reading goalkeeper Luke Southwood then made a superb stop to tip over a fierce 20yard effort from McNamara.
But from Wallace’s corner in the 37th minute, former Reading centre-back Cooper nodded home unchallenged.
The hosts reacted positively before the break, with midfielder John Swift presented with two opportunities. First he shot over the crossbar after a one-two with Lucas Joao, then Bialkowski touched away his precise free-kick.
Reading created the first chance of the second period, with Joao finding space in the Millwall area. The forward took too long to control the ball and was quickly hounded.
Reading upped the tempo in the closing stages, but the visent comfortably repelled all that they could offer.
Reading now lie just five points clear of the drop zone. “We had plenty of the ball, but we lacked quality in the last third,” said Reading’s firstteam coach Michael Gilkes.
“From a performance point of view, it was really positive. But we struggled to break down Millwall. One of Millwall’s strengths is their setpieces. They had seven opportunities and six of them were from set-pieces. They had one shot that led to the corner that then led to the goal. They are extremely good at that.”
Gilkes, deputising for interim manager Paul Ince at the post-match press conference, added: “It just didn’t go right for us today.”