West Brom 0 Millwall 0 - Report
Albion had keeper Alex Palmer to thank for a crucial first half penalty save but will feel they should have taken all three points against Millwall after twice hitting the crossbar in a much improved second half.
Palmer dived to his right to claw away Zian Flemming’s 28th minute spot kick during a lacklustre first half, but the Baggies were far more threatening after the interval.
Matt Phillips was denied twice in quick succession and both Alex Mowatt and Brandon Thomas-Asante saw efforts come off the crossbar as Albion pressed forward for a decisive breakthrough which just wouldn’t come.
There were five changes to the Albion side from the one which had drawn at Watford in midweek.
Mowatt, Jeremy Sarmiento - making his first Baggies start - Grady Diangana, Kyle Bartley and Conor Townsend came in with Jed Wallace, Darnell Furlong, Cedric Kipre, Okay Yokuslu and John Swift dropping to the bench.
Before kick-off there was a rousing minute’s applause in tribute to former promotion-winning Albion midfielder Ian Hamilton, who passed away recently.
Many of his former team-mates and manager Ossie Ardiles were still making their way around the outskirts to the pitch to applause from the Baggies fans before there was almost a disastrous start for the Albion class of 2023/24.
With 100 seconds on the clock and Albion keeping possession in defence, Bartley knocked the ball back to Palmer and his attempted clearance was charged down by Duncan Watmore.
It wasn’t clear if the ball would have bounced straight back into the Albion net but Palmer reacted quickly to palm it away for a corner which the Baggies cleared.
Diangana was looking Albion’s most threatening outlet in what had been a low-key opening without being able to trouble the Millwall keeper, but on 28 minutes it was Palmer who became the hero.
Bartley, who had been off the pitch twice to be bandaged up following a clash of heads, handled in the box but Palmer dived to his right to deny Flemming from the spot.
There were no further major chances before the break but it looked a far more dynamic Albion side which came out after the interval and they were so close to going in front on 50 minutes.
Diangana did superbly down the left, Jayson Molumby got a touch to his cross and Phillips was denied twice in quick succession, first by keeper Bartosz Bialkowski and then a block from Ryan Longman.
As Albion kept up the pressure, Erik Pieters shot from distance was parried by Bialkowski and Thomas-Asante turned the rebound back into the danger zone only for Millwall to clear.
Albion were looking so much more threatening and, just after the hour mark, only a lick of paint prevented them going ahead as Mowatt’s superb free kick bounced down off the crossbar.
And in the 74th minute Albion hit the woodwork yet again, Thomas-Asante on the end of a loose ball with a decent connection only to see the ball again hit the bar.
Carlos Corberan made several changes including sending on Wallace and Swift as the Baggies continued to push for all three points, but were ultimately forced to settle for just one as Millwall held firm.
TEAMS
Albion (3-4-3): Palmer; Ajayi, Bartley, Pieters (Furlong 77); Phillips (J. Wallace 77), Molumby (Yokuslu 83), Mowatt, Townsend; Diangana, Thomas-Asante, Sarmiento (Swift 77).
Subs not used: Griffiths, Kipre, Chalobah, Pipa, Fellows.
Millwall (3-4-1-2): Bialkowski; Leonard, Cooper, M. Wallace; Norton-Cuffy (Esse 78), De Norre, Campbell (Mitchell 78), Longman (McNamara 66); Flemming; Bradshaw (Emakhu 82), Watmore (Bryan 66).
Subs not used: Trueman, Saville, Harding, Adom-Malaki.
Attendance: 22,325 (1,110 Millwall fans)
Referee: Tom Nield.
