Millwall Home Lost 1 – 2
Those who had tried to rescue the midweek defeat started against lowly Millwall, so everything would be alright, then? Well, the new manager bounce is a real thing, even if Neil Harris is nothing new for the Lions, and we were also long overdue a Bazunu howler, notwithstanding that his efforts against Hull were scarcely encouraging. The howler in this game was particularly loud as the keeper came for a deep fifth minute free kick but succeeded only in punching Tanganga and it’s only that Tanganga had already headed goalwards for the opener that prevented a penalty and, who knows, a possible sending off? The league table suggested that this wasn’t exactly a mountain to climb and on the 34 minutes there was an equaliser to enjoy with Adams getting a touch on Stuart Armstrong’s cross to guide the ball past Ŝarkić. By then Southampton were having to do without the services of Fraser who would have been important in what was developing into a very old fashioned battle. I suspect Ryan was just caught in the crossfire as midfielder Honeyman followed Walker-Peters everywhere, including when he switched wings and roles, but Honeyman’s big impact came with an ‘orange card’ tackle on the Saints’ winger with KW-P only somewhere in the vicinity. Then, with half time nearly upon us, Millwall mounted what was becoming an increasingly rare attack that climaxed with a shot by Obafemi, of all people, that was blocked by Bednarek’s arm. Stephens, who had got away with something similar at WBA, was cautioned for his objections to a penalty that was eventually put away by Flemming. It would have been nice to have had more than one goal, but the home forwards were threatening throughout the opening period, even if Edozie had been subdued by a heavy tackle by Leonard, no doubt accompanied by the threat of more to come. The starters were only given 15 minutes to turn things round after the restart as Adam Armstrong and Rothwell came on. I don’t think that helped, and neither did a second round of changes ten minutes later, but the manager was in a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t situation. Sadly Rothwell wasn’t able to oblige in the same way as he had been against Huddersfield as, with chances increasingly rare, he shot tamely at Ŝarkić when well placed. Adam Armstrong at least came closer, heading just over from one cross and forcing a fine save from another. And so ends a feeble February in the league, and heaven knows what awaits in the cup?
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates to choose from:
2. Kyle Walker-Peters, starting as left wing-back and ending as orthodox right back. He did well to have as much influence as he did, given the close attention he was given.
10. Ché Adams. Managed a goal and forced a goal-line clearance in his 59 minutes game time.
17. Stuart Armstrong. A rare full game for him.
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