Millwall vs West Bromwich Albion. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Millwall and West Bromwich Albion at The Den as Tyler Burey scored in the 90th minute to seal victory for the Lions on Saturday.
Saturday 22 October 2022 18:42, UK
Substitute Tyler Burey struck a 90th-minute winner as Millwall made it four wins in a row in the Sky Bet Championship by coming from behind to defeat West Brom 2-1 at The Den.
The Lions are now up to fifth in the table after making their pressure against the Baggies, who had Kyle Bartley sent off with five minutes left, count after Callum Styles had cancelled out John Swift's opener.
In what may be Richard Beale's last game in caretaker charge, luck continues to desert West Brom and whoever they appoint will have to lift them from second from bottom in the second tier.
Millwall immediately showcased their intent when Billy Mitchell had an effort deflected wide, leaving West Brom goalkeeper Alex Palmer scrambling momentarily, inside the first 15 seconds.
But it was the Baggies who struck first after 20 minutes and it was a former Lion, subjected to fierce abuse from those that used to cheer him, who caused the damage.
Jed Wallace, who departed The Den for The Hawthorns during the summer, got away down the right before cutting the ball back for Swift, whose shot was deflected past a helpless George Long.
West Brom were doing a good job of containing the Lions at this point, with Scott Malone resorting to trying his luck from 30 yards out but his effort flew harmlessly wide.
Wallace was then gifted the chance to make it a perfect return when he ran onto a loose back pass by Zian Flemming, but Long came out to close him down and block the shot.
The save proved crucial, as Millwall drew level in the 38th minute when West Brom's defence failed to deal with Malone's free-kick, leading to Styles turning before driving into the roof of the net.
The Lions should have gone ahead after 58 minutes when Flemming battled his way past Adam Reach before crossing, only for Tom Bradshaw - Wednesday's hat-trick hero against Watford - to scuff wide from close range.
It was the hosts doing most of the pressing in the second half, with substitute Burey curling a shot wide after being found in space on the left.
Bartley then headed straight at Long with what was a rare chance for West Brom after the break, as Millwall brought on Benik Afobe in their continuing search for a winner.
They played against 10 men during the closing stages as Bartley was shown a second yellow card for pulling back Afobe.
The depleted Baggies could not hold out as, just as the clock was about to tick past 90 minutes, Burey received the ball from Mason Bennett before beating Palmer at his near post to snatch all three points for the hosts.
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "I thought we got better as the game went on. You could argue we should have been ahead before the second goal - it's a close offside call [against Burey] and I felt we had some really good moments where we maybe should do a little better with that last action in front of goal.
"I would have been disappointed if we didn't win the game, but I'd have been proud if we had have drawn the game because of the resilience it shows for us to perform in that way, with the same energy. Sometimes you come out of those game and you win and sometimes you don't, but remember we were a goal down. I spoke about the first goal being so important and that's twice now we've responded brilliantly at home and come back from a goal down to win the game."
West Brom's caretaker boss Richard Beale: "A real sickener, I thought the boys battled very, very well, showed a lot of heart and character which is what we ask for. We showed energy, we obviously made a number of changes to inject that energy into the team, and on top of that I thought we were better with the ball, second half especially, today and created a few chances.
"We didn't do it enough in the first half, but when we did we got in behind them and the goal comes from that cut-back finish which we'd done a bit of work on. But ultimately not good enough because we lose that game and the disappointing nature of the goals."
