Millwall vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
The Den.
Millwall 4
- J Wallace (5th minute)
- S Malone (31st minute)
- B Mitchell (52nd minute)
- T Bradshaw (58th minute)
Bristol City 1
- T Conway (16th minute)
Millwall 4-1 Bristol City: Lions thump Robins at The Den
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Millwall and Bristol City at The Den as goals from Jed Wallace, Scott Malone, Billy Mitchell and Tom Bradshaw sealed victory for the Lions.
Saturday 1 May 2021 18:48, UK
Billy Mitchell scored his first senior goal for Millwall, who finished off their home season in style with a 4-1 victory over a hopelessly out-of-form Bristol City.
Jed Wallace, Scott Malone and Tom Bradshaw also scored in the Lions' first win in five games, which took them above Luton and into 11th place in the Championship.
It could have been a day to remember for teenage striker Tommy Conway, who also opened his account at senior level to cancel out Wallace's opener, but this was the only bright point for the Robins who dropped to 19th and are now winless in nine.
Millwall were ahead inside five minutes when a long ball by captain Jake Cooper led to a situation where there were three home attackers against one Bristol City defender. Wallace clinically made the most of it by advancing into the area down the right before powering a shot across Max O'Leary and into the bottom corner.
The Robins drew level in the 16th minute, however, as 18-year-old Conway beat Bartosz Bialkowski to Henri Lansbury's through-ball and rounded the Millwall goalkeeper to score into an empty net.
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Conway should have scored his second after 28 minutes when he miscued wide after Kasey Palmer had laid the ball perfectly into his path.
Millwall were instead back in front just after the half-hour mark when Danny McNamara's cross flicked off a defender into Malone's path and he fired his effort in off the post.
The Lions were repeatedly getting in down the right, with Wallace putting McNamara through for a good chance four minutes before half-time, with O'Leary having to beat his shot away.
But it was 3-1 seven minutes into the second half, just after Bradshaw's header had been cleared off the line, as young midfielder Mitchell buried a terrific shot into the top corner.
Cooper then bent a shot high and wide, as the visitors continued to struggle to defend set-pieces and they then shot themselves in the foot to gift Millwall a fourth.
Robins captain Tomas Kalas lost control 30 yards from his own goal, allowing Bradshaw to dispossess him, run through unopposed and finish into the bottom corner to put the result to bed after 58 minutes.
It threatened to get even more embarrassing for Nigel Pearson's side as Malone lashed over from Wallace's backheel before Bradshaw headed McNamara's cross straight at O'Leary.
The season cannot end soon enough for the Robins, with Antoine Semenyo dragging a shot wide from 25 yards in the final 10 minutes to round off a miserable afternoon for them in south London.
What the managers said...
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "I appreciate every set of fans of a club and team will always think that their fans are the most important, but a lot of people I've spoken to have said it feels such a weird place at The Den without the fans. It's almost eerie - there are a lot of places that don't feel quite so bad, but for us it's just a real emptiness.
"It's been a challenge, it's been a difficult season, but I think there have been a lot of positives, a lot of plus points and I think this team has shown a lot of progress over the 18 months since we've joined. I think next season is a great opportunity for us to take that to the next level, if possible, with our fans there. That was a fantastic advert for their attitudes because, right from the off, they made sure their mentality was strong."
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "Another day where we were not good enough. There were too many individual mistakes, not enough collective resistance against a side who I thought played really well. We had our opportunities, but unfortunately we once again allowed our opponents to score far too easily and that's a big problem for us at the moment.
"Their first goal comes because we didn't track runners. If you've seen where their runners came from, they came from the other side of our players and they just don't track runners. They bring everybody back from set plays and there's nothing else to say, apart from players who let people run past them. It's not good enough. We have an opportunity to make changes this year. Days like today help to make your mind up on people."