3/1 To Win
Ten-man Derby County earned a point against Millwall as it finished 1-1 at the Den.
The Rams took the lead a minute before half time as Festy Ebosele scored his first professional goal for the football club.
He received the ball in the area and guided the ball past the onrushing Millwall goalkeeper to put Derby ahead, however, they would only hold on to that lead for two minutes as the Lions equalised through Scott Malone.
Derby had to battle in the second half as they were reduced to 10-men as Nathan Byrne was dismissed for receiving his second booking of the afternoon.
And despite the Rams playing the last 30 minutes with a man less, they dug in, battled hard and put bodies on the line to preserve a point.
Manager Wayne Rooney made three changes to the side which faced Barnsley on Wednesday night as Graeme Shinnie returned to the midfield after serving his one-match suspension.
And another of those changes, Ebosele, had the first opportunity of the game, as the Rams started the game brightly.
Fellow Irishman Jason Knight did well on the right-hand side to take on his man, he crossed it low into the centre and found Ebosele at the back post. The Academy graduate shot first time, but saw his effort saved by Bartosz Bialkowski and his second strike was blocked.
Sam Baldock was the next to trouble the Millwall defence. A nicely threading through ball from Curtis Davies found the striker who beat one man but his resulting shot was blocked by Millwall skipper Jake Cooper.
The Rams were certainly showing a reaction to Wednesday night’s defeat against Barnsley as they dominated possession and looked threatening in attack.
Knight maybe should have put Derby ahead midway through the half. He raced on to a through ball from Tom Lawrence and advanced on to goal but Cooper managed to get back in time to deny the midfielder.
Derby continued to press and come forward in numbers as Nathan Byrne went into the book for a late challenge on Mason Bennett.
Lawrence saw a free kick saved by Bialkowski just before the half time break, however, the game soon burst into life as the Rams took a deserved lead.
Baldock capitalised on a defensive mistake from Cooper, he found Lawrence who kept his composure to find Ebosele in space to his right and he guided the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper to put the Rams ahead and score his first professional goal for the football club.
However, that lead would last less than two minutes as they were unable to hold on until half time as Millwall equalised. Scott Malone was afforded too much space on the left and he found the bottom corner to ensure the scores were level at the break.
Buoyed by their goal before the break, Millwall quickly went in search of the next goal and almost found it five minutes into the half.
Jed Wallace managed to get behind the defence and shot but Kelle Roos made the save, and as the ball broke, Buchanan got his body in the way of Malone’s effort.
On the hour mark, Millwall really should have taken the lead. Neat play from the hosts saw Wallace receive the ball in space on the right. He delivered a cross on a plate for the onrushing George Saville but he could not get his effort on target.
At the other end, Knight almost regained Derby’s lead as he was set free on the left. He advanced with the ball and shifted it onto his weaker left foot but his fierce effort was saved by the legs of the Millwall goalkeeper.
On 64 minutes, however, Derby would go down to ten-men as Byrne received his second booking of the afternoon. He was adjudged to have fouled Bennett and was dismissed meaning Derby would play the final half an hour with 10 men.
But, Derby reacted well to that setback as they continued to battle in a bid to get something out of the game.
They were forced into defending first, however, as Benik Afobe fluffed his lines from close range, but they had several opportunities afterwards to regain their lead.
Ebosele embarked on a strong 70-yard run which was thwarted at the last, whilst Baldock had a few chances which were saved by Bialkowski.
The Rams continued to fight and throw bodies on the line in order to preserve their point.
Malone went within a whisker of doubling his tally for afternoon as he hit a volley from 25 yards which went inches over the crossbar with only minutes of the game remaining.
And the Rams managed to see the game out well as they held on to a solid point at The Den going into the November international break.
Millwall: Białkowski, Wallace, Cooper, Wallace, Malone, Saville (Smith 81’), Leonard, Bennett (Bradshaw 74’), Afobe (Ojo 87’), Mitchell, Ballard (McNamara 74’).
Substitutes: Long, Kieftenbeld, Pearce.
Derby County: Roos, Byrne, Shinnie, Jagielka, Bird, Baldock (Sibley 87’), Lawrence (Aghatise 90’), Buchanan, Davies, Ebosele (Kazim-Richards 87’), Knight.
Substitutes: Allsop, Forsyth, Jozwiak, Stearman.
