Gary Rowett returned to SE16 and left with all three points thanks to Ruben Rodrigues’ 57th minute winner as Alex Neil started his Millwall head coach reign with a defeat.
Here is the lowdown on the New Year’s Day match.
THE LINE-UPS
Millwall: Jensen, Leonard, Tanganga, Wallace, Bryan, Saville (Wintle 85), De Norre (Honeyman 72), Esse, Watmore (Azeez 65), Langstaff (Bradshaw 72), Ivanovic. Subs not used: Roberts, Hutchinson, Harding, Mitchell, Mayor.
Oxford United: Cumming, Leigh, Brown, Moore (Kioso 46), Long, Vaulks, Brannagan, Goodrham (Sibley 90), Rodrigues (Phillips 69), Placheta (ter Avest 69), Harris (El Mizouni 83). Subs not used: Ingram, McEachran, Scarlett, Dembele.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
Just like the Coventry game on Sunday, it was a bit of a drab affair. Oxford did as you expect a Gary Rowett side to do, to be strong and resilient. They made it hard for Millwall to create anything and when they did there was a defender or their goalkeeper there to prevent it from causing any danger.
Oxford took the lead in scrappy style, Ruben Rodrigues headed in Przemyslaw Placheta’s cross after the Lions had struggled to deal with the threat of the Polish winger. From then on the away side defended their lead without really threatening to add a second goal.
The home fans were on the referee’s back in both halves as he twice refused to award Millwall a penalty. Romain Esse looked to have been clipped in the first half while George Saville also felt he was pushed to the ground in the second half.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Alex Neil made two changes to the side that played out a goalless draw at Coventry on Sunday, Mihalio Ivanovic was named in the startling line-up in place of George Honeyman, who dropped to the bench. Femi Azeez also dropped to the bench with Duncan Watmore coming in for him.
There was debate pre-kick-off if the formation was a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1. The answer was the former, certainly when in possession of the ball it was clear Neil took the option of two big strikers up top. It worked well in the early stages with the pair linking up well and forcing the Oxford defence to be tight and rigid.
The problem with the twin striker method was the fact that Oxford packed out their midfield and made it very hard for Millwall to get the ball into their front two.
The Lions boss said after the game that the decided to play with two strikers as he feels the team does not have a natural “number 10.” Neil said afterwards that if Azeez had not had a bout of illness he would likely have started, allowing Esse to play behind a frontman.
STAR MAN
Romain Esse. As he has been the case for the majority of this season, he was Millwall’s main source of creativity. The youngster continued to show why he has admirers at Premier League level. His little bits of trickery and ability to win free-kicks was key to assisting his team-mates in getting higher up the pitch.
BEST MOMENT
Ivanovic’s effort. It would be safe to say that the Serbian has found it quite hard to impact matches when he starts. He has looked very good as an impact sub, getting goals against both Derby and Blackbur. He had the game’s best effort, from a Millwall perspective. Watmore’s header fell nicely for him and he fired it first time towards goal but Oxford keeper Jamie Cumming made the stop.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
The lack of movement in attacking areas from Millwall. It was a really tough watch at times. We saw from Gary Rowett’s time in charge of Millwall of how they could suck the life out of a game and then hit on the break. Oxford did the same here. It was the first time in the league that Langstaff and Ivanovic started together. Safe to say, it will need some time to flourish if that is the system that Neil wants to play. The midfield really struggled at times. Esse was finding it hard to create as Oxford closed him out, adding an extra man to deal with his threat. The pace from the home side in the attacking areas was also very slow, the build up play was slow and that made it easy for Oxford to sit on their lead and defend it well.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
The inclusion of both Ivanovic and Langstaff. Neil showed his intent from the off, playing with two strikers. A bold move, to say the least. However, if it can work then it could be a real weapon for the Lions going forward. There are not many Championship sides that play with two strikers up top. The Lions boss will need to get those ‘targetman’ traits drilled into his strikers. You would think it would be Ivanovic that would be trained to those drills, as the bigger of the two strikers.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“We created some good chances. Mihailo has a good chance – the keeper saves it. Duncan has one where he put it past the far post. Duncan then has the best chance of the game, where it falls to him and he hits it and the defender gets a block. We were the better side, the dominant side, we got good crosses into the box and we got good volume in terms of attacks. Then, after 30 minutes I felt the game became a bit stretched for us, they carried a bit of a threat but nothing significant.”