Millwall 1-1 Sheffield United: Blades Battle Hard For Point at The Den | OneFootball

Sheffield United managed to hold onto a valuable point away at Millwall on Saturday afternoon.

The Blades took the lead in the first half through Andre Brooks when he skipped inside on his left foot and a slight deflection saw his effort tuck into the near post. Just a few moments later, Millwall equalised when a free-kick was nodded on and eventually found Mihailo Ivanovic to steer home from close range.

Lineups

Millwall: Crocombe, Crama, Cooper, Taylor, Mitchell, Ivanovic (Coburn 71), Neghli, Azeez, Doughty (Sturge 60), Langstaff (Bannan 70), De Norre (Ballo 86).

Unused: Evans, Leonard, Emakhu, Cundle, Mazou-Sacko.

Blades: Cooper, McCallum (Burrows 45), Bindon, Cannon, Hamer (Campbell 80), O’Hare, Brooks, T. Davies (Arblaster 46), McGuinness, Seriki, Peck.

Unused: A. Davies, Ings, Hoever, Mee, Ogbene, Chong.

First Half

United carved out the first opening of what proved to be an entertaining match down at The Den when a Gustavo Hamer corner picked out the head of Sam McCallum, only for the wing-back’s effort to be dramatically cleared off the line.

Millwall responded with their best chance of the first half inside the opening ten minutes. The hosts won possession deep inside United’s half before Ivanovic slipped a neat pass into the path of Macauley Langstaff. The striker found himself one-on-one with Michael Cooper, but the United goalkeeper was equal to the task, producing a smart save to keep the scores level.

It came as little surprise when United took the lead on 17 minutes. The opener owed much to the tenacity of Gus Hamer, who won possession high up the pitch. There was still plenty for Andre Brooks to do, but the winger showed real composure, dropping a shoulder before steering a precise left-footed effort home from the edge of the box.

However, the Blades’ advantage lasted just two minutes. From Alfie Doughty’s deep free-kick, Caleb Taylor headed goalwards and Ivanovic reacted quickest inside the six-yard box, flicking the loose ball beyond Cooper to restore parity.

The game continued to be frantic with United playing some slick attacking football. Brooks was a constant threat down the right flank, and it was his cross on 25 minutes that led to another opportunity, McCallum’s header this time being held by Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe. At the other end, Femi Azeez fired over when well placed.

On 29 minutes, excellent work from Femi Seriki down the flank saw the wing-back pick out Hamer, who quickly redirected the ball into the path of McCallum. The defender’s angled effort drifted wide of the far post.

United suffered a blow before the interval when McCallum was forced off on a stretcher, but they continued to create chances before the break. Brooks again skipped away from Doughty and found Tom Cannon, whose shot was well saved by Crocombe. From the rebound, Callum O’Hare somehow headed wide with the goal gaping.

Second Half

The Blades carried that momentum into the second half. Hamer split the Millwall defence with a superb pass to O’Hare, who did well to stay on his feet after a challenge before laying the ball back to Harrison Burrows, whose effort was comfortably held.

Neat attacking play continued past the hour mark as Hamer slipped Seriki in behind the defence down the right, but O’Hare was unable to make a clean connection from the resulting cross when running in at the near post.

As the game ticked down to 90 minutes, both sets of players were feeling the pace but it was Millwall who came on stronger. The Blades had heart in mouths at some points in the game as the home side continued to fizz the ball into the box, but some resolute defending earned United a point.