Millwall’s poor record at Norwich continued as they were beaten 2-1 on Boxing Day.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
Norwich: Gunn, Fisher, Duffy, Doyle, Chrisene (Hernandez 74), Nunez (Stacy 63), Marcondes, Slimane, Schwartau, Crnac, Sainz. Subs not used: Long, Hills, Hanley, Barnes, Myles, Amankwah, Gordon.
Millwall: Jensen, Leonard, Tanganga, Wallace, Bryan, Saville (Wintle 76), De Norre (Bradshaw 76), Emakhu (Watmore 13), Esse, Azeez (Honeyman 76), Ivanovic (Langstaff 66). Subs not used: Roberts, Hutchinson, Harding, Mayor.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
Millwall have a disappointing record at Norwich. They have not won at Carrow Road since 1968 when Harold Wilson was the Prime Minister and Joe Cocker was number one in the UK charts.
This attempt at putting that record right started badly as they fell behind in just the fourth minute thanks to former Brentford player Emiliano Marcondes, who finished off Oscar Schwartau’s cross. Lukas Jensen prevented Borja Sainz from making it 2-0 but they would not make it to the break on trailing 1-0 as Schwartau added a second. The Lions also lost Aidomo Emakhu to what looked like a groin injury just 13 minutes into the game.
Romain Esse pulled one back in the second half with a fine finish but his side were unable to find an equaliser and their wait for a win at Carrow Road will enter a 55th year.
TACTICAL APPROACH
David Livermore made just one change to the side that beat Blackburn with Mihalio Ivanovic, the matchwinner in that fixture, starting ahead of Macauley Langstaff, who dropped to the bench. It was a different type of performance to what we saw against Blackburn before Christmas. The Lions were set up to press, as they did against Rovers at The Den.
Norwich have some very quick and agile players and that was evident in the goal just before half time. The way they moved the ball and the pace at which they did it caused the Millwall defence problems despite the scrappy finish.
Millwall were never out of the contest and Livermore made attacking changes but unfortunately they did not pay off as the South Londoners suffered back-to-back away defeats.
STAR MAN
Romain Esse. It had been a quiet couple of games in terms of end product and the goal will be a big confidence booster for him. A confident Romain Esse is a huge positive for Millwall. When he’s on form and sharp he is a very tough player to keep tabs on.
BEST MOMENT
Esse’s finish. The combination play between Esse and Femi Azeez has been getting better the more games they play together. It was Azeez who set up the 19-year-old to drill low into the bottom corner from outside the box. It’s a fourth goal of the season for Esse, who drew level with Duncan Watmore as Millwall’s top scorer in the Championship this season.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
The loss of Emakhu. Anyone who was at The Den against Blackburn would have seen how good Emakhu was. He gave Joe Rankin-Costello a real headache in that first half and you felt if he had been on for long enough in this game he could well have done the same.
It’s been a frustrating season for Emakhu, He could not get regular game time under Neil Harris. Caretaker head coach David Livermore gave him his chance against Blackburn, which he took with both hands. So for his progress to be hampered by something out of his control is a real blow.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
The youngest front four to start a game for Millwall in years. Femi Azeez was the oldest in that group at 23 and line-up underlines the philosophy that owner James Berylson and director of football Steve Gallen have in mind for this football club.
They are going to need time to gel. They need time to gain experience of Championship football and they are getting the best possible learning experience by playing games for this football club.
With this philosophy there is no guarantee that all players will work out as intended but the early signs are that this group – certainly Azeez and Esse – are going to make a very good partnership for Millwall in the attacking third.
Picture: Brian Tonks
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“The dressing room was disappointed because we felt, certainly in the first half and for large parts of the first half, we felt we carried a threat, we felt we were in the game. We are disappointed we’ve come away with nothing from the game. There were a lot of positives as well.”
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