Hull City 0-0 Millwall: Ryan Leonard fumes as late winner ruled out in play-off semi-final stalemate | OneFootball

Semi-final to be settled at The Den after first-leg ends honours even

Ryan Leonard saw a late would-be winner disallowed as Millwall were held goalless at Hull City in the Championship play-off first-leg.

It was a nervy affair at the MKM Stadium as both sides looked to stamp their authority on the tie early on, and Hull nearly did exactly that as Mo Belloumi danced brilliantly into the box and struck the woodwork with the match less than two minutes old.

Camiel Neghli was the next to hit the post, with his long-range effort just wide of the mark later in the first-half.

Mo Belloumi hit the post after a wonderful solo run two minutes in

PA

Centre-back Leonard has only scored once in the league this season, but thought he was Millwall’s hero as he put the ball in the back of the net late on, but referee Gavin Ward spotted something untoward in the build-up and ruled his strike out.

“At the time I thought it was a goal - I haven't seen it yet,” said Leonard after the fact. “We'll take the draw and go to The Den and the fans will be at it on Monday and we'll be ready to go.”

A sell-out crowd is expected at The Den for the second-leg as the Lions look to book themselves a trip to Wembley.

A hard-fought but cagey first leg ended goalless

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Alex Neil felt his side looked the more likely on the night and was disappointed by the ‘really soft’ decision to rule out Leonard’s goal, but backed his side to get the job done inside 90 minutes on return to SE16.

“I'm probably not satisfied if I'm being honest, just because we were better in the game - they didn't really risk the ball,” he told Sky Sports.

“We could have moved the ball better and Barry Bannan coming on gave us more of a stranglehold in the game.