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FT REPORT: MILLWALL 1-1 SUNDERLAND

MILLWALL had to come from behind for a third straight home game in a 1-1 draw with bottom of the table Sunderland.





The relegation threatened Black Cats took the lead just after the half hour mark when Bryan Ovideo struck a stunning shot from outside the box that beat Jordan Archer at his near post. 

A poor first half from the hosts saw them booed off at half time by the crowd but a much better second half performance saw Sunderland lucky to escape with a point from South London. 

The home side got themselves level with 20 minutes to go when Shaun Hutchinson scrambled the ball over the line the goal only being given because of goal line technology. 

After the goal Millwall piled the pressure on and Sunderland were hanging on and dug in to earn the point. However, the point does little to aid Sunderland in their battle against a second consecutive relegation. 

It was clear that Millwall wanted it more and then decided to go with an attacking trio of Steve Morison, Lee Gregory and sub Fred Onyadimna. Neil Harris then decided to introduce Tim Cahill to play behind the attacking trio. 

The home side were left frustrated and you feel that if Sunderland had shown as much fight for the rest of the season as they did here then they would not be at the foot of the table fighting for their lives. 

It's clear that Chris Coleman still does not know his best eleven at Sunderland as he made six changes to his side. However, for Neil Harris at Millwall it couldn't be any different as he named an unchanged side for the fourth game in a row. 

It was a change for Millwall who normally are the side without the ball most of the time, they found themselves with a lot of possession with Sunderland strangely sitting off and allowing Millwall to play the ball around. 

That game plan allowed Sunderland to come forward as the Lions struggled to build anything as three centre-halfs kept Gregory and Morison quiet. 

The first chance of the game came for the visitors when Adam Matthews's got forward and crossed the ball for Ashley Fletcher who scored against Millwall in the 2016 League One play off final failed to connect. 

Jason Steele had only one real thing to do in the first half and that was to palm away a shot from Shaun Williams as Millwall struggled to create chances. 

Millwall were sloppy in defence which is not something we have seen often this season and they conceded a needless corner and from that Sunderland took the lead when Millwall failed to have enough cover as Bryan Ovideo was allowed to drift towards the edge of the box and smash a stunner into the top corner. 

Millwall had one more chance before the break when Ben Marshall was able to get a rare ball into the box that found Morison but his header was wide when he should have done better. 

In the second half the Lions woke up and realised that they were playing a Sunderland side that had lost 17 time already this season  and conceded 61 goals. They were putting the pressure on and realised that under severe testing this defence could crumble. 

Millwall spent the whole of the second half in Sunderland's half of the pitch with Lee Gregory forcing Jason Steele into two saves. 

It was only a matter of time before the Lions drew level. Shaun Williams's corner was scrambled over the line by Shaun Hutchinson for his first goal since August, his second of the season. As the time went on Millwall went for the win with Morison getting a flick on but Gregory couldn't get the touch before Steele came off his line. 

The Lions couldn't find the winner but its another point gained and its now 12 points picked up from losing positions. The unbeaten league run now stretches to nine while the unbeaten run at home in the league is 12. 

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