Hull City 0-0 Millwall: FLW report as Tigers and Lions evenly matched in semi-final first leg | OneFootball

FLW report from the MKM Stadium for this Championship play-off semi-final first leg

Hull City and Millwall's Championship play-off semi-final will be decided by developments at The Den on Monday after Sergej Jakirovic and Alex Neil's sides played out a hard-fought first leg at the MKM Stadium.

Despite the Lions finishing 10 points clear of the Tigers in the regular season, it proved to be an even contest between the two, with defences ultimately coming out on top over 94 minutes.

However, the main talking point will be the visitors' disallowed goal five minutes from time, after Ryan Leonard thought he'd given his team a crucial advantage in the tie.

Hull City 0-0 Millwall

After what was an electric welcome, both sides immediately went in search of an early goal, with Mohamed Belloumi, in particular, going close for the Tigers inside two minutes after weaving his way into the box before firing just over Anthony Patterson's net.

Thierno Ballo produced the Lions' first clear-cut chance on 13 minutes, albeit his 20-yard strike was never going to cause Ivor Pandur any issues with minimal power and direction. Femi Azeez also tried his luck from distance moments later but was also wide of the mark.

Hull then had two chances of their own, with Oli McBurnie not quite able to direct Liam Millar's low cross goalwards, before Patterson was alert to Belloumi's curling effort after the ball was only half-cleared.

City then somehow didn't take the lead from a counter-attack involving McBurnie and Gelhardt, with the latter unable to finish off the move as he stumbled at the vital moment inside the area.

Just after the half-hour mark, Josh Coburn fashioned his first opportunity for the visitors after a neat turn away from Charlie Hughes, but, again, his effort was deflected behind for a corner which came to nothing.

Ballo then looked to get the better of the Hull defender on a counter-attack for Neil's side minutes before the break, but the winger was left frustrated once again by an astute block from the 22-year-old.

Belloumi was a man full of confidence in the first period, but he was the next to see an ambitious effort land off-target after drifting inside five minutes before the break, in what was the half's last action of note.

The first chance of the second period came five minutes in when Hull captain and right-back, Lewie Coyle, was allowed to advance forward and fire just over the bar under no pressure.

On the hour-mark, Liam Millar, who struggled to make any impact in the first half, saw his frustrating night continue as he was adjudged to have been offside in the midst of a neat move between Belloumi and McBurnie on the right flank as the Millwall rearguard were left exposed for a moment.

Meanwhile, the visitors' first shot of the half came two minutes later as Tristan Crama fired high and wide from 25 yards, before the home crowd and players breathed a large sigh of relief when Camiel Neghli was given the freedom of the half to drive towards goal and unleash a strike that clipped the inside of the post before going wide.

Hull substitute, Yu Hirakawa, then whipped a teasing ball into the head of McBurnie in his first involvement, but the striker could only glance it wide.

With 15 minutes to play, Lions star man Azeez showcased a glimpse of his attacking quality by turning Regan Slater and firing a fizzing goalbound strike towards the bottom corner which was just as impressively stopped by Pandur as the first leg remained on a knife-edge.

Heading into the final five minutes of normal time, Leonard thought he was the first-leg hero for the Londoners, only to see his close-range flick disallowed as Crama was adjudged to have fouled Hughes in the build-up.

As tensions started to boil over in the stands, an end-to-end encounter ended with the tie finely poised for the second leg in South London in 72 hours' time, with Wembley awaiting the winners on May 23rd.

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 7

Lewie Coyle - 7

John Egan - 7

Charlie Hughes - 7.5

Ryan Giles - 7.5

Regan Slater - 7 (Lundstram 88" - N/A)

Matt Crooks - 7.5

Mohamed Belloumi - 7 (Joseph 69" - 6)

Joe Gelhardt - 6 (Dowell 74" - 6)

Liam Millar - 6 (Hirakawa 69" - 6.5)

Oli McBurnie - 6

Unused Subs: D.Phillips, P.McNair, S.Ajayi, D.Gyabi, L.Koumas

Millwall

Anthony Patterson - 7

Ryan Leonard - 7

Tristan Crama - 7

Jake Cooper - 7.5

Zak Sturge - 7 (Doughty 82" - 6)

Derek Mazou-Sacko - 7

Casper De Norre - 6.5 (Bannan 74" - 6)

Femi Azeez - 6.5

Camiel Neghli - 7

Thierno Ballo - 6 (Cundle 74" - 6.5)

Josh Coburn - 6 (Ivanovic 86" - N/A)

Unused Subs: M.Crocombe, D.McNamara, B.Mitchell, T.Watson, M.Langstaff

Sergej Jakirovic's thoughts on Hull City's first-leg draw v Millwall

Reacting to the stalemate in HU3, Jakirovic said: "An expected game. A Very tough fight for every ball, challenge and duel on the ground and in the air.

"Maybe we had the best chance when Mo Belloumi hit the post. Then, after, they are really dangerous from set-pieces and long throw-ins. I think we handled this, but were, in some situations, very hectic with the ball in and around the box.

"You can take an extra touch and make better decisions, then I think we started well in the second half. We pressed and pushed them until 70 minutes and, unfortunately, didn't score.

"Then from 70 minutes, they had control in possession but didn't create anything dangerous for us," the Bosnian claimed.

"In the end, it's a fair result. Like I said, nothing will be decided tonight."

Alex Neil reacts as Millwall held in first leg v Hull City

When asked for his thoughts on the draw, Neil said: "I think you could see from the start of the game for both teams, no one wanted to give anything away.

"I thought it was a cagey first-half, and that we had the better of the first half. I thought the ball stuck when it went up to Josh Coburn and that he was excellent.

"I thought we had some good performances across the pitch. Derek (Mazou-) Sacko was excellent as well," the Lions boss continued.

"I thought, in the second half, when Cammy (Neghli) hit the post and the keeper made a very good save, and the goal was disallowed, which will be interesting to see Gavin (Ward's) views on that.

"I thought it was quite harsh," he claimed.

"All in all, I thought you could see that will give us confidence to try and hopefully win the game on Monday."

Attendance

The attendance at the MKM Stadium tonight was a sold-out figure of 24,623, including 2,300 Millwall supporters.