Rotherham United went down to 10-men and missed a penalty in a closely fought defeat at Millwall.
Captain, Richard Wood, was sent off in the second half for denial of a goal scoring opportunity.
The 10 Millers couldn’t hang on and went down to a sliced half-volley from Jed Wallace.
Michael Smith had a red-hot opportunity to level the game after being felled in the area, but his tame penalty was easily saved by Bartosz Bialkowski in the Millwall goal.
The opening 45 played out even as neither side took the game by the scruff of the neck. Millwall’s chance of note was a clever attack after a Wes Harding error. The ball fell to Jed Wallace on his own, but the forward couldn’t get control for a clear chance.
Rotherham had the best chance of the half with Michael Ihiekwe meeting a lofted free kick. The defender’s header brough a great save from the Lions’ keeper, getting low to his right to deny the opening goal.
The second half was a horror show for the Millers. In the opening stages Wood was sent off for an unintentional foul, but because he was last man and the attacker had a yard on him, the referee had no choice but to send the skipper for an early bath.
The man advantage proved to be the boost the Lions needed to find a breakthrough against the Millers.
Jed Wallace sliced the ball on the half volley following a corner and the ball nestled in the unsavable spot, top right bins.
Smith could’ve and should’ve equalised from 12 yards late in the second half, but his tame effort was saved by Bialkowski, who had an excellent afternoon and kept Millwall on top.
Rotherham’s late push for an equaliser proved to be in vain as the single goal did the job for the home side.
It’s the hope that kills you.
Goals: J Wallace 63
Teams:
Millwall: Bialkowski, M Wallace, Hutchinson (Pearce 32), Cooper, J Wallace (Bodvarsson 73), Malone, Woods (Kieftenbeld 87), Bennett (Zohore 73), McNamara, Mitchell (Mahoney 73), Evans
(Subs not used: Fielding, Williams, Bradshaw, Romeo)
Rotherham: Johansson, Wing (Clarke 77), Wood, Ladapo (Lindsay 58), Harding, Ihiekwe, A MacDonald, Smith, Crooks (Hirst 77), Barlaser (Jozefzoon 77), Giles (Wiles 58)
(Subs not used: Blackman, S MacDonald, Ogbene, Sadlier)
Red Card(s): Wood 55
Referee: J Brooks
The Wandering Yorkshireman 