Mihailo Ivanovic’s stoppage-time penalty snatched a 1-0 victory for Millwall against Sky Bet Championship strugglers Stoke.
The match at The Den was desperately lacking in quality for the most part, with neither side doing enough to justify winning it, but Ivanovic gave it a dramatic finish it did not deserve in the fourth minute of additional time.
It allowed the Lions to get back to winning ways after their midweek loss at Leeds, but for the Potters it was a blow in their attempts to avoid being dragged into the relegation zone.
Wouter Burger had the game’s first opening for Stoke in the ninth minute when his header from Lewis Baker’s corner looped over the bar as the visitors started the livelier of the two sides.
In contrast, Millwall were slow to get going and were comfortably held at arm’s length by the Potters, who possibly expected a tougher opening.
They were not able to make the most of their hosts’ lethargy in the first half-hour, however, with chances in short supply.
It took 40 minutes for either team to have a shot on target, but Joe Bryan’s effort for Millwall from just outside the box was one that was easily fielded by Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.
It would have been understandable if both men with the gloves were left feeling chilly by half-time, given how little either of them had to do in the first 45 minutes.
The Lions came close to warming up their supporters three minutes into the second half when Josh Coburn was inches away from getting on the end of Aidomo Emakhu’s ball across goal.
It had been a while since Stoke had looked like scoring, but they suddenly had a flurry of chances just after the hour mark, starting with Bae Jun-ho crashing an effort from a tricky angle against the bar.
One minute later, a mistake by Billy Mitchell led to Baker prodding the ball through for Burger, but the previously under-employed Lukas Jensen saved well with his right leg.
The match had finally come to life, with Johansson holding on to Casper De Norre’s deflected volley from outside the area at the other end.
There was then a skirmish between Millwall substitute Aaron Connolly and Stoke right-back Junior Tchamadeu that saw both players booked after squaring up to each other.
Just when it looked as though the match was petering out, Millwall were awarded a penalty in stoppage time when Ben Wilmot was judged to have held back Coburn from Wes Harding’s long throw.
Up stepped Ivanovic, and the Serbian calmly sent Johansson the wrong way to win it for the Lions.
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