Millwall - Charlton

Pre-match thoughts

This is exciting...for the first time in a while, I'm going to a London derby match! And not just any derby - this is Millwall against Charlton Athletic. A clash for south London domination, specifically the area around Greenwich and Lewisham.

There's many reasons to be optimistic Millwall will win - we've been unbeaten against Charlton for 17 years now; the last time they beat us was in 1996, with a 13 year gap in fixtures afterwards. We're fifth in the league; despite a 2-1 loss to Coventry last Tuesday, we've been playing well, and some of our best players are coming back from injury. In a way, it feels like we're not done yet this season, and I'm very excited.

Charlton, meanwhile, started promising, but have only collected nine points from their last nine games. They did win against Sheffield United recently, to be fair; I was even around their stadium that day (for an upcoming blogpost, I'm not a turncoat), and everyone seemed to be optimistic that day. 

One thing's for sure, though - stats and history mean nothing when it comes to a rivalry, especially when Nathan Jones is managing the opposition. Fingers crossed, of course, that everything will work out in the end.

Live match reporting

11:30 - one hour before the match. In a pub, firmly sober. Happy with the lineup, I'd have probably chosen exactly the same. Not sure about benching Ivanovic, but we'll see. 

 

12:15 - at the Den now. Everyone optimistic, as expected, and there's also some police presence. That's not surprising either. I'm saying Millwall will win 2-0, both scrappy goals.

12:31 - kickoff! Still waiting to get in the stadium...

12:37 - only just got in, a turnstile was closed. Missed a Millwall goal.

Millwall 1-0 Charlton

13:18 - half-time. Millwall by far the better side, end to end stuff. Still 1-0.

 

13:34 - second-half kickoff.

14:10 - goal :D

Millwall 2-0 Charlton

14:18 - penalty for Millwall. At last.

14:19 - he missed. But we scored on the rebound!

Millwall 3-0 Charlton

14:21 - no chance of a comeback now!

Millwall 4-0 Charlton

14:30 - well that sure was tough...full time. 4-0.

 

Post-match

Probably one of the easier wins Millwall will ever get. I'm not exaggerating when I say it could have been 10-0, it geniunely could have been. We had two penalty shouts in the first half, including one for a blatant Charlton handball, both of which were either ignored or waved off. Josh Coburn missed a near-open goal for what should have been the easiest tap-in of his life, too. There was a disallowed goal for offside in the second half, too - god, I could go on.

In fact, we were so dominant, and the win was so large, it's strange I spent most of the game nervous and convinced Charlton were going to steal a point. Caleb Taylor's header in the 82nd minute made it clear that wasn't going to be an issue, and the remaining goals - an incisive finish from a saved penalty, and Aidomo Emakhu's tidy finish, both in injury time - were like the dessert to a Michelin-starred meal.

I knew Charlton would have some fight in them, but I didn't think it would be literal. So much shirt-pulling that went unnoticed, that and the ungiven penalties. I'm not sure why I'm so surprised Charlton played rough, especially as Millwall barely played like that in response. It was very much a physical game for one side only, and that just so happened to be all they brought to the table. Charlton had barely any shots, any real threat, for the whole game.

A bit of a weird stat, meanwhile, is that this is the biggest win I've seen Millwall have at the Den. I'm very used to one or two goal win margins, after all. I was curious, and decided to see when they last won a league match by four goals - we have to go back to November 2023 for that! The win also takes us up to a positive goal difference, which I also believe we haven't had this season since the opening day of the season. Those two late goals could end up making all the difference for us if it ends up going to the wire.

All I know is that south London is firmly navy blue! 

This is an old photo but I like it :)