Wednesday’s Millwall 0-2 Sheffield: Ike Ugbo and Anthony Musaba increase the Owls’ chances of surviving
Report and free game highlights from Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship game between Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall at The Den | Owls’ victory over the struggling Lions is boosted by Ike Ugbo and Anthony Musaba.
Sheffield Wednesday won 2-0 at The Den to send Millwall’s winless streak to eight games. Anthony Musaba scored one goal and assisted on another.
Before the pivotal match, the Owls had only scored seven goals on the road this season. However, they led at the half thanks to a goal from Musaba, who also assisted Ike Ugbo.
In a stronger second half performance, the Lions battled valiantly but were unable to create many clear-cut opportunities as they suffered their fourth straight loss and seventh overall in those eight games.
After losing badly against Ipswich, the hosts got off to a strong start. Within five minutes, Tom Bradshaw missed a header from the heart of the penalty area.
Following a fierce challenge from Danny McNamara, the right wing-back, the fans erupted.
The first twenty minutes of the game saw the Owls struggle to gain momentum, with balls in behind to Troyes loanee Ugbo posing the only serious threat.
But after a spectacular run and cross from Musaba, the Canadian international scored from close range in the 31st minute to give his team the lead.
After the interval, Zian Flemming nearly brought his team back into the match by making James Beadle make a fantastic save and winning the ensuing corner.
Then, after winning a free kick on the edge of the box, the top scorer for the Lions saw it rebound off the wall and out of danger.
In the sixty-third minute, the home team came dangerously close to cutting the lead to one, but Di’Shon Bernard stopped Duncan Watmore’s hard-hit attempt from crossing the line.
After a collision with Marvin Johnson inside the penalty box, Flemming had 20 minutes remaining when referee Geoff Eltringham waved aside his penalty appeal.
After beating his opponent, Aidomo Emakhu attempted a driving cross-goal attempt seven minutes later, but it was unsuccessful.
After some excellent build-up work by Flemming, the hosts earned something for their efforts in the second half, but nobody was able to capitalise on Ryan Longman’s brilliant cross.
Ashley Fletcher of Wednesday was sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence, but it had no effect as Millwall moved to within one point of the relegation zone.
“We are definitely down that part of the league, but Southampton will be a difficult game and not to declare an official relegation fight.” The period in the season where it matters to put points on the board is slowly approaching.
“There’s really no use in getting sucked into the fixtures prediction game since I’ve been there and experienced it before. We’re going to Southampton with complete faith, so you never know.
“And who knows, maybe the pressure got to us a bit and it ended up being a difficult day, but that could be the turning point in a game like today, which is a should-win in the eyes of many.”
“That’s what football is all about; we can’t just go there and wait for the next game; we have to go there and find some faith during an extremely trying time.”
“The only way is back in on Monday, stick together, stand up and go and face what is a really tough challenge on Saturday and beyond.”
Danny Rohl of Sheffield Wednesday:
It was challenging; we are aware that arriving here is not simple. I thought Millwall was playing really well during the first fifteen minutes of the match against Ipswich.
We talked about differentiating between home and away, and I believe that was the key today. We have had a lot of strong performances and accomplishments at home.
“Today’s lesson was extremely clear: win the second ball and make the difference in every duel.
“I believe that our two goals—finding the two number 10s and then accelerating the game—were exactly what we were hoping for.
“It was fantastic—if you understand what I mean, I would characterise today as grownup football.
“We have been talking about performance away for the past couple weeks. We performed well as a team and demonstrated as a team what we must do in our circumstances today, which was all about taking outcomes.”
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