Table topping Nottingham Forest were held to a 0-0 draw at Millwall.
Millwall have been on the receiving end of some poor results recently and were looking to put everything right against a strong Forest side. But both teams were forced to share the points after ninety minutes. Both Forest and Millwall were playing very attacking, end-to-end football in an entertaining game at The Den. The Lions had the better share of chances in the game when Martyn Woolford curled his shot just wide and Mathias Ranegie fired a close range shot at Forest keeper, Karl Darlow.
After an even first half, Millwall were straight out of the traps after the break and were on the prowl for a goal, but the Forest back line held firm and kept the Lions at bay. Forest had scored five on Wednesday to beat struggling Fulham and return to the top of the league, but they rarely troubled a strong Millwall side. Antonio came closest with a cross-field shot and forced Millwall keeper David Forde into a save.
Millwall had claims for a penalty turned down when Jermaine Easter was sent tumbling after a challenge from Forest defender Kelvin Wilson. Ian Holloway said “It shouldn’t have been goalless. We should’ve had a penalty and so should they – at least it’d have been 1-1.” .
What the gaffers said…
Lions boss, Ian Holloway said,
“I was very pleased even though we have only got one point in a week. We have played better this week than we have in some of our other games. We made a couple of mistakes and when you do that and don’t take a chance then this division isn’t very nice.”
Forest boss, Stuart Pearce said
“They generated a bit of momentum with the fans and we had to show a defensive display in a reasonably scrappy game. We didn’t have the cutting edge going forward that we wanted and overall I have got to be happy with a point and a clean sheet on the road.”
How did they line up?
Millwall
| David Forde: Wasn’t really involved in the game. Made a couple of good saves to keep Forest at bay | 8.0 |
| Carlos Edwards Didn’t really have a chance to get into the game after being forced off with injury early on. Unable to comment on his performance. | N/A |
| Alan Dunne: Cleared everything that came his way, looked confident on the ball and kept Assombalonga at bay, | 8.0 |
| Mark Beevers: Made some excellent challenges to deny Forest a goal. Solid performance. | 8.5 |
| Scott Malone: A very attacking performance from the left-back. Was always involved when he could be. | 7.5 |
| Jimmy Abdou: Had to slot in at right back after Carlos Edwards went off injured. Kept Antonio from breaching the defence. One his best performances for a long time. | 9.5 |
| Shaun Williams: Solid performance in midfield. Composed on the ball and made some good chances from set pieces. | 8.0 |
| Martin Woolford: Could have scored. Created a lot of chances and was constantly running off of the ball. | 7.0 |
| Scott McDonald: Composed on the ball, made chances and ran with the ball. In the heart of every attack. | 8.0 |
| Jermaine Easter: Made some chances but couldn’t really get involved in the game. | 6.0 |
| Mathias Ranegie: Was very lazy, didn’t get himself involved. Had a good chance to score but couldn’t finish. | 5.0 |
Substitutions
| Magaye Gueye: Gave Millwall some pace in attack. Linked up with Fuller well and created chances. | 7.5 |
| Ricardo Fuller: Linked up with Gueye well and played well with the ball at his feet. | 7.0 |
| Ed Upson: Had some chances to score. Linked play well and created chances for others. | 8.5 |
Nottingham Forest
| Karl Darlow: Made many saves to keep the score at 0-0. | 8.5 |
| Jack Hunt: Got forward a lot when he was on and kept Easter from getting in behind. | 5.5 |
| Michael Mancienne: Played very well against Ranegie and put in a solid shift. | 8.0 |
| Kelvin Wilson: Looked quite shaky in defence but still kept out the Millwall attackers. | 6.5 |
| Eric Licjah: Average performance, Martyn Woolford gave him a tough time at left back. | 6.0 |
| Robert Tesche: Good in midfield, did the basics well but couldn’t provide that killer ball. | 6.0 |
| David Vaughan: Did a lot in defence, pretty average performance, though. | 7.5 |
| Henri Lansbury: Not his usual self. Played the ball about in midfield well. | 6.0 |
| Michael Antonio: Good all round performance. Forced Forde into a save and put a header just over the bar. | 8.5 |
| Christopher Burke: Got forward a lot and played some good balls into the box, but no one could get on the end of them. | 7.5 |
| Britt Assombalonga: Very poor from him. Couldn’t get hold of the ball and didn’t have a chance to score. | 4.0 |
Substitutions
| Danny Fox: Defended against Gueye and Woolford well. | 6.0 |
| Jamie Paterson: Didn’t really get involved in the game after coming on. | 5.0 |
Man of the Match
| Jimmy Abdou: Was a revelation at right back after Carlos Edwards came off. Kept Antonio out, played the ball about well, got forward beyond Woolford and cleared up anything sloppy. More than worthy of the MOTM award! | 9.5 |
