Millwall collected their first home win of the season after a narrow 1-0 win over Watford on Monday night.
Camiel Neghli’s magnificent first-half free-kick was the difference at The Den in a game that was low on drama until the final 10 minutes.
The result sees Watford’s winless run extend to four matches.
Camiel Neghli puts Millwall 1-0 in front against Watford with an incredible taken free-kick just outside of the box.
A chilly night in the capital was lit up 10 minutes in. Nampalys Mendy fouled Derek Mazou-Sacko just outside the area and Neghli nonchalantly looped the resulting free-kick over the wall, with the dip and curl he put on the ball ensuring it evaded the grasp of Egil Selvik.
The Watford goalkeeper appeared to hit his head on the framework of the goal after the ball hit the net. He was deemed fit to continue, but replaced by Nathan Baxter at the break, in line with the EFL’s concussion protocol.
Camiel Neghli scored Millwall’s stunning winner
It should have been 2-0 less than 15 minutes later. Marc Bola’s poor defensive header was seized on by Ryan Leonard, who squeezed a cross through to Josh Coburn, but the striker lifted his shot over from just outside the six-yard box.
By the 77th minute, the teams had generated a combined xG figure of just 0.18, but a raft of changes from both managers sparked it back into life.
Nestory Irankunda’s snap-shot was batted away by Steven Benda, with the follow-up blazed over by Caleb Wiley, while the Millwall stopper produced an even better reaction save to keep out Luca Kjerrumgaard’s shot from point-blank range.
Between those two chances, the hosts should, arguably, have been awarded a penalty when Kevin Keben, in a panic, clumsily brought down Macaulay Langstaff inside the box. But referee Josh Smith was not interested – and fortunately for Millwall, it had no bearing on the result.
Neil: Win eases a bit of pressure – but we were denied stonewall pen
Millwall’s Alex Neil speaking to Sky Sports:
“We beat Coventry in the Carabao Cup here, but in the league we hadn’t managed to win a game so I think that always puts a little bit of pressure on the next one.
“I thought we played well; I thought the second half was much more gritty in terms of hanging in. You could see at the end we were on our last legs with a lot of injuries, particularly through the middle area of the pitch, which is then difficult to try and get a little bit of freshness on.
“I do think we should have had a penalty late in the game. I might be proven wrong as I haven’t seen it back yet, but for me it looked like a stonewaller. I thought we deserved the points, albeit it was quite a tight game.”
Pezzolano: We deserved more
Watford’s Paulo Pezzolano:
“I feel we deserved something. The team made a big effort physically.
“The finishing will come. It is part of the process. These players deserved more.”
