Millwall - Sunderland

South Bermondsey station's entrance was flanked by two police officers. They were on horses, horses that wore plastic visors, likely to protect them from the rain. An officer directed away fans to the right; Millwall fans had to continue onwards, via the main road which partially had horse waste on it. 

It does feel like every Millwall home game has a massive police presence, which I understand, but part of me also suspects it's a holdover from the 1980s and the peak of hooliganism. I've been at away games to Cardiff and Bristol, and don't remember there being nearly as much police. Maybe there was some justification this time around, though - The Den was full this day, as Millwall played Sunderland - there was likely to be some disorder.

Sunderland, at the start of the day, were top of the Championship. Considering they finished 16th last season, and didn't have the greatest form by the end of it, to start this season so well wasn't something I foresaw. 

Millwall, on the other hand, were 8th. Not terrible, considering only a month ago they were 20th; off the back of four 1-0 wins, I was more confident about this match than I would have been had Sunderland arrived earlier in the season. Not that form means anything, when a match begins.

Sunderland taking a free kick, which led to them scoring

Millwall didn't even start off that poorly, though once Sunderland scored in the 10th minute to make it 1-0, all confidence seemed to disappear. The passes were wayward, the rare chances were wasted, and goalkeeper Lukas Jensen had a frustrating tendency to lob the ball to the Sunderland defence. The fans weren't particularly loud, either - there was the occasional chant, the most popular being "fuck off, lino¹", but otherwise Sunderland dominated, both on the pitch and in the stands.

I left the stands somewhat early, mostly so me and my dad could beat the inevitable queues for the food, so I didn't realise that the game had been interrupted due to two medical emergencies in the stands. Hopefully those affected can fully recover, and are well. The interruption did mean that, when everyone had got back to the stands, and had booed the lino, the teams played the final five minutes of the first half, with nothing of note happening, before half time arrived. 

By this time, the sky had turned pitch black, with the tower block behind The Den indistinguishable from the sky aside from two small red lights. Thankfully, the Millwall players were more up to it in the second half, creating countless chances which never managed to be converted. Even the fans were more willing to cheer, even if "fuck off, lino" remained a popular choice amongst them. Sunderland were happy to soak up the pressure, clearly assuming Millwall would continue wasting various chances - and admittedly, the odd goal-line clearance aside, most shots were off target, and largely unthreatening. Repeat for nearly forty-five minutes.

By injury time, however, the unexpected occurred. Millwall manager Neil Harris finally realised he could still use two substitutions, so in the 90th minute brought on Aidomo Emakhu, who I've always felt deserved more game time. Soon afterwards, he received, got past his man, and sent in a low cross. It was heading wide, but fellow sub Femi Azeez poked it into the net. 

Euphoria promptly followed in the stands - all were chanting, goading the away crowd - and though I tried to remain subdued, knowing Sunderland could easily go on to score, it was hard to not celebrate. I somehow managed to photograph the fans upside down, too. From hereon in, it was a matter of stopping Sunderland's efforts, and the game was soon over.

I'll take a point, not least as Millwall were shoddy in the first half, so any point was a pleasant surprise. Taking points off of promotion rivals is lovely, too. Consequently, Millwall remain in 8th, and Sunderland are still top - at least until later today. For now, Millwall's playoff hopes are still alive; I only hope they don't get killed off as they do every season. Maybe earlier subs would keep those hopes on life support for longer.

^{1 - linesman}