Championship leaders, West Ham fought back to draw 2-2 against Millwall at The Den in a lively Dockers Derby.
Konstantinos Mavropanos rescued West Ham a vital point with his 80th-minute header from Manor Solomon’s cross to complete their comeback, after Mohamadou Kante initially halved their deficit with a 74th-minute strike.
Kante however was red carded in the 89th minute after he denied Kyrell Lisbie a goalscoring opportunity with his 89th-minute foul.
Close-range finishes from Caleb Taylor and Camiel Neghli initially put Millwall 2-0 in front at half time.
Millwall climbed to 10th in the table, whilst West Ham remained on the summit until Swansea won 2-1 at Lincoln City to go top.
Despite having claimed only four points in their last five league matches, Millwall began the first Dockers Derby since February 2012 on the front foot as Taylor nodded wide then Zak Sturge put a left-footed shot wide in the opening minutes.
Tairyk Arconte fired a 11th-minute shot straight into Mads Hermansen’s arms before Derek Mazou-Sacko rifled over the bar a minute later, such was Millwall’s dominance in their attacking press and counter-attacking pace.
Millwall’s intensity was rewarded in the 16th minute as a throw-in was turned on goal by Mark Sykes as he then Arconte saw shots blocked by Hermansen, before Taylor lashed in from close range on the Lions’ third attempt from the set-piece.
Arconte almost doubled Millwall’s lead from a 20th-minute counter-attack pass by Sturge but his shot was saved, whilst Jake Cooper saw a half-turn attempt in the 27th minute gathered by Hermansen.
Sykes struck the crossbar in the second minute of first-half injury time as Millwall nearly failed to extend their lead before the break, but a last-gasp throw-in into the box fell for Neghli to knock down and smash in past Hermansen to double their lead at half time.
West Ham manager – Nuno Espirito Santo substituted Kyle Walker-Peters and Joel Piroe for Kante and Pablo at the break, but the Hammers struggled to create much impact amidst a spitting row involving Filip Marschall, Valentin Castellanos and Pablo.
Marschall then saved Pablo’s 67th-minute header as West Ham began to find their groove, but couldn’t prevent Kante’s low strike into the bottom-left corner seven minutes later after the Frenchman met Pablo’s short pass on the edge of the box.
That goal lifted West Ham’s motivation further and they equalised in the 80th minute after Mavropanos nodded in from Solomon’s cross, as Millwall for the second consecutive match threw away a two-goal lead after they did the same at Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening.
West Ham however finished a man down after Kante was red carded in the 89th minute, having clipped Millwall substitute – Lisbie to ground after the latter intercepted him on the ball and launched a quick counter attack.
Espirito Santo’s Hammers eventually survived five minutes of injury time to settle for a point to stay top of the table.
What’s Next?
Millwall head to Preston after the first international break of the season, with kick-off at Deepdale set for 3pm BST on Saturday 10 October.
West Ham host QPR in another London derby straight after the international break in a 8pm BST kick-off on Friday 9 October.
Teams
Millwall: Filip Marschall, Jordi Osei-Tutu, Caleb Taylor, Jake Cooper, Zak Sturge, Jenson Metcalfe (Servais 81′), Derek Mazou-Sacko (Cundle 91′), Mark Sykes (Baggott 70′), Lyndon Dykes, Camiel Neghli, Tairyk Arconte (Lisbie 81′)
Substitutes: Elkan Baggott, Danny Batth, Max Crocombe, Luke Cundle, Alfie Doughty, Yanis Issoufou, Daniel Kelly, Kyrell Lisbie, Mathias Servais
West Ham: Mads Hermansen, Kyle Walker-Peters (Kante 46′), Konstantinos Mavropanos, Max Kilman, Morato, Jarrod Bowen, Divine Mukasa (Austbo 68′), Arne Engels, Manor Solomon, Joel Piroe (Pablo 46′), Valentin Castellanos (Orford 91′)
Substitutes: Joshua Ajala, Edvin Austbo, Airidas Golambeckis, Finlay Herrick, Mohamadou Kante, Soungoutou Magassa, Lewis Orford, Pablo, Oliver Scarles
Referee – Paul Tierney
Leave a Reply