An own goal apiece as Derby battle to Millwall point

It’s 0-0 with nine minutes to play. Derby and Millwall have been locked in an intensely physical battle. Scrappy doesn’t really do it justice.

In a game with more aerial duels than a Battle of Britain re-enactment, Thierno Ballo wraps his foot around the ball for what must be cross number 300. As he has done countless times, Matt Clarke dives to head the ball clear, but instead it flies into the back of the net.

Even captain for the evening Sondre “quicker than Mbappé” Langås can’t reach it in time to clear off the line.

No one likes them, but they don’t care. And now Alex Neil’s side were set to condemn The Rams to a third-straight defeat for the first time this season.

But not so fast. Derby would fight back, finding a leveller with two minutes to play, Millwall skipper Jake Cooper repeating Clarke’s earlier feat. Another bullet header nestled in the bottom right corner, this time from Joe Ward’s corner kick.

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Looking to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat to Leicester, Derby made two changes in personnel: Lars-Jørgen Salvesen and Ebou Adams dropped to the bench, with Andi Weimann and Liam Thompson preferred as John Eustace tweaked his side’s formation to a 3-4-1-2.

Though, as visiting boss Neil admitted, quality was lacking at points in the game, it was end-to-end from the off.

The first chance fell Derby’s way after seven minutes, when Bobby Clark drifted inside from the left and saw his effort blocked for a corner.

Millwall would soon fire quite the warning shot though. Only the flag denied The Lions when Mihailo Ivanović tapped in from a yard out following Sondre Langås’ dispossession, which prompted a goal-mouth scramble.

Most of the visitors’ attacks came down their right flank, where Callum Elder was walking a tightrope following his third-minute booking for a foul on Tristan Crama.

Though this was not a case of targeting the Australian, according to Neil. Instead, it is simply where he feels his team are strongest, boasting the likes of tricky winger Femi Azeez, who hit the woodwork after sneaking round the back from a free kick.

This was the start of a growing trend in the game of set-pieces prompting spells of control.

Next, a Derby corner, in the second phase of which, Elder stung the palms of Max Crocombe with a 25-yard pile-driver, before the former Burton stopper denied Dion Sanderson on the turn two minutes later.

Ward was then required to head the ball off the line, before Cooper’s next effort from a corner flew wide. And there was still time before the break for Patrick Agyemang to steer his diving header the wrong side of the post, connecting with Ward’s cross which had just a little too much on it.

The Rams started the second half brightly. Clark and Thompson, who was “different class” per Eustace, kept things ticking over in the middle of the park as Sanderson and Langås overlapped them to unleash shots on goal.

Next, Agyemang would be denied from a tight angle on the left before heading another Ward cross over the bar.

Substitutes combined when Rhian Brewster dragged Derby up the pitch with a fabulous turn before slipping in Salvesen, whose effort was blocked by the sliding Cooper.

Derby had been creating chances, but Millwall remained a threat on the counter, as Crama has just reminded them, seeing his effort blocked after another quick break down the right with 15 minutes to play.

And then came Matt Clarke’s remarkable seven minutes: redemption. From feeling like zero to Pride Park hero. The goal initially looked to have been his, but it turns out, his pressure was enough.

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Was it pretty? No. Perhaps unsurprisingly so when you consider that this Millwall side are, in some ways, much like Derby. They make up the top two for both fouls and clearances per match, and both use their strong aerial presence to their advantage from set-pieces. To an extent, the two teams cancelled each other out.

But both sides can be relatively pleased. For Millwall, a point on the road during an injury crisis – Alex Neil mentioned eight injured central midfielders post-match.

For Derby, it’s more than a point to stop the rot. This was a battling draw against promotion-chasers. A real response to the Leicester game, the first half of which Eustace described as “the one time we didn’t [show character] this season.”

Ward continued his good form down the right, while Thompson took his opportunity to impress in his first league start since August, holding his own against a physical side while being the most accurate passer to play 45 minutes or more.

It does still feel as though Eustace is trying to optimise his forward line in Morris’ absence, but the focal point Salvesen provides and the technical quality of Brewster on his return from injury are further positives.

The Rams’ next two games, on paper, provide a good chance to end what is now a four-game winless run. First, a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Monday, before the visit of Portsmouth on Saturday, December 20.

But of course, as the relentless nature of the Championship continues, likely so does its unpredictability.

Goals: Cooper 88’ (OG) | Clarke 81’ (OG)

Derby (3-4-1-2): Zetterström (GK); Langås (Blackett-Taylor 85’), Sanderson, Clarke; Ward, Clark, Thompson (Adams 85’), Elder (Jackson 85’); Weimann (Brewster 67’); Agyemang, Brereton Díaz (Salvesen 67’).

Unused Substitutes: Vickers (GK); Forsyth, Batth, Nelson.

Millwall (4-2-3-1): Crocombe (GK); Crama, Taylor, Cooper, Doughty (Bryan 89’); Neghli, Kelly; Azeez (McNamara 89’), Bangura-Williams (Emakhu 68’), Ballo (Langstaff 90+2’); Ivanović.

Unused Substitutes: Benda (GK); Grant, Harding; Matthews, Howland.