Ed Aarons was our man at the Den this afternoon. His report has landed, so get clicking, good people. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Patrick Vieira talks to the telly. “I was happy with the first half but we didn’t use the ball well enough. In the second half, we wanted to win the game to support Jack, because this is the way we want to play and sometimes you make mistakes, but I was really pleased with the character we showed in the second half. We changed the shape in the second half so Olise was wider, and we created a situation where he was in a one versus one. He showed his quality.”
Gary Rowett speaks to ITV. “I thought we were pretty good for most of the game. On and off the ball, we were excellent. We conceded a really poor goal in the 46th minute. Olise is a good player and you have to force him onto his right foot. The second goal, again, it’s a ball in the box and a header we have to mark. You can’t give two goals to a Premier League side, and that’s a disappointment.”
The outstanding Michael Olise, who has unsurprisingly been named man of the match, speaks to ITV: “It was a tough start to the game. Balls going in the air, fighting. At half-time we said we needed to respond and show our fight, and that’s what we did in the second half. I feel good. Our quality came through. Our manager said to express ourselves, and that’s what we did. The fans have been great, the atmosphere was great.”
Palace were much improved in the second half. Michael Olise, who scored one, set up another, and hit the post in a wild 13-minute creative burst, was nothing short of sensational. His actions will have spoilt the day of the piece of work who hit him on the head with a bottle of pop; you’ve gotta love karma. Jack Butland, who gifted Millwall the lead in the first half, probably owes him a debt of gratitude too.
FULL TIME: Millwall 1-2 Crystal Palace
The whistle goes, and Crystal Palace are in the hat for the fourth round.
90 min +5: Nope! One more! Space for Bennett down the right. He hooks in for Smith, who rises above Andersen, six yards out, but sends a weak header straight at Butland. That was a great chance for the big man.
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90 min +4: Hutchinson meets the corner with a weak header. Butland flops on the ball, and Millwall’s last chance may have come and gone.
90 min +3: The free kick’s sent wide right to Burey, who fizzes a fine low cross through the six-yard box. Any touch, and it’s in. It somehow evades everyone in the middle, and finally deflects out for a corner.
90 min +2: Gallagher steps across Burey and that’s a free kick for Millwall in Palace territory. Malone will take. Everyone lines up just outside the box.
90 min +1: Smith causes some brief panic in the Palace defence, challenging for a long ball on the edge of the box. But Palace regroup well, and eventually Billy Mitchell is forced to run the ball out for a goal kick by his namesake Tyrick.
90 min: Millwall will have five extra minutes in which to rescue their situation.
89 min: A minute of sterile Palace possession. Every second counts.
88 min: Palace make a couple of changes. Schlupp and the marvellous Olise make way for Clyne and Riedewald.
87 min: Billy Mitchell curls one in from the right. It’s a dangerous ball. Guehi flicks a header away from the lurking Cooper. Boateng slides in at the far post but can’t bundle home. So close to taking this to extra time!
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85 min: Long is good to continue.
84 min: Olise nearly releases Gallagher down the right. Long slides out to smother. Gallagher accidentally clips the keeper in the mouth. On comes the trainer to see what’s what.
83 min: Butland is booked for timewasting.
82 min: Palace respond by replacing Hughes with the more defensive-minded Milivojevic.
81 min: Millwall swap out their entire front line. Off go Ojo, Adobe and Bradshaw; on come Burey, Boateng and Smith.
80 min: Millwall are winning most of the 50-50s right now. Palace are dropping deeper, looking to hang onto their lead.
78 min: Afobe, his back to goal just inside the Palace box, tees up Bennett, who sidefoots carefully towards the bottom left. No oomph behind it, though, and it’s an easy gather for Butland.
77 min: Ward barges Bennett out on the left, and it’s a free kick in a dangerous position for Millwall, who load the box. Hutchinson sends it in, but it’s cleared well by Ward, mopping up his own mess.
76 min: A couple of crisp, clear C-bombs ring out across the nation on lunchtime ITV. The home fans have their dander up.
74 min: Ojo curls one in from the right. Malone hasn’t gambled, and Gallagher can shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Millwall are finally asking a couple of questions.
72 min: A game of bagatelle in the Palace box. The ball drops to Afobe, but he can’t send an effort goalward. A little better from the hosts, though.
71 min: A bit of possession for Millwall, but they do very little with it. Palace look set for the fourth round right now, unless the hosts can haul themselves up off the canvas.
69 min: Ojo sends a directionless cross in from the right. Millwall haven’t achieved much in this second half.
67 min: As Olise prepares to take the corner, he’s hit on the head by what looks like a plastic bottle. No harm done to the player, thankfully, but what’s wrong with people? Anyway, nothing comes of the resulting set piece.
66 min: Gallagher sends a deep cross in from the right. McNamara is forced to head behind for a corner. Olise goes over to take it.
64 min: Palace respond with a double change of their own, replacing Eze and Mateta with Benteke and Edouard. No respite for Millwall.
62 min: Millwall make their second change, and this time it’s a tactical one. Bennett comes on to bolster the midfield, replacing centre-back Pearce.
61 min: The restart took a while, incidentally, a result of some dim bulb flinging a flare onto the pitch. Expect plenty of added time at the end of this game.
60 min: What a cross that was. In the first 13 minutes of the second half, Olise has scored one, set up another, and hit the woodwork. The third round of the FA Cup, right here!
GOAL! Millwall 1-2 Crystal Palace (Mateta 58)
Olise is borderline unplayable at the moment. Palace break, and Olise is sent scampering down the right. He eases past Cooper, checks, then curls a delicious cross onto Mateta’s head. Mateta can’t miss, and doesn’t, steering a clinical header across Long and into the bottom left. That’s a lovely goal.
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56 min: Local lad Billy Mitchell is booked for a cynical clip on Gallagher’s heel.
55 min: Speaking of Selhurst, here’s a reminder that there are no replays in this year’s FA Cup, a consequence of this goddamned pandemic. This tie will be decided today, after extra time and penalties if necessary.
54 min: Olise versus Malone out on the right, take three. This time, having made space for yet another shot, his curler, aimed for the top left, sails harmlessly over the bar.
53 min: Kieftenbeld balloons a long-distance effort miles over the bar. That one’s already halfway to Selhurst Park.
51 min: Olise is this close to making a carbon copy of his goal. He swans in from the right with panache, leaves Malone in his wake again, and curls a shot across Long and onto the far post. This time the ball bounces clear, rather than in. So unlucky, but what a sensational six minutes he’s had!
50 min: Saville has tweaked something and can’t continue. He trudges off glumly, to be replaced by Kieftenbeld.
48 min: That was a peach of a finish, though Malone may reflect that he backed off far too eagerly. Incidentally, Mateta was half a yard offside during the build-up, and in the Premier League, VAR would have almost certainly chalked that off. But there’s no VAR here.
GOAL! Millwall 1-1 Crystal Palace (Olise 46)
A mere 47 seconds into the second half, Palace are level. And what an equaliser! Olise is given too much space down the right by Malone. He enters the box, switches his feet, and sends a glorious left-foot curler across Long and off the far post and in. The sweetest of strikes!
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Millwall get the second half underway. Some head tennis. No half-time changes.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Millwall 1-0 Crystal Palace
There’s just enough time for Andersen and Hutchinson to grapple in the box, and for a frustrated Andersen to then shoulder charge Malone to the ground. And that’s it for the first half. A good old-fashioned cup-tie, this, and it’s set up perfectly for the second half.
45 min +2: Another sliding tackle by Saville, and this one had to be perfectly timed, Eze preparing to meet Schlupp’s left-wing cross on the penalty spot. He whips the ball away from his toe from behind, and out for a corner. What a challenge!
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45 min: Saville slides through the back of Andersen, who responds by cuffing his assailant around the ear as he falls. No action by the referee for that retro back-and-forth. All good clean filthy fun.
44 min: Ojo rampages down the right in style, and looks to be bodychecked by Tyrick Mitchell, but the referee’s having none of it. Ojo has looked very neat and tidy this afternoon.
42 min: Gallagher wins a free kick out on the left, then hoicks it straight out of play himself. He holds his hand up to apologise to all of his team-mates in Millwall’s loaded box.
41 min: From the resulting free kick, Bradshaw bursts clear down the inside-right channel and finds himself in on goal. The flag pops up for offside. It turns out Bradshaw was onside, but there’s no VAR, and Bradshaw fluffs the chance anyway.
40 min: Ojo skins Guehi down the right touchline, and is upended with a flick of the Palace defender’s boot. Guehi is fortunate not to go into the book.
38 min: Palace are beginning to push Millwall back. They’re not creating very much in the final third, but they’re taking a semblance of control.
36 min: Eze slaloms down the middle and briefly threatens to break into the Millwall box. He can’t quite get through, but the ball breaks to Gallagher, who sends a curler towards the top left. The effort flies inches wide, and Long wasn’t getting there.
35 min: Speaking of the length of the ref’s rope, the official comes across to the dugout to have a word with Patrick Vieira, who has been offering a critique of his work from a distance. No more than a lecture.
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33 min: Tyrick Mitchell swings one in from the left. Long claims with ease, then faffs around theatrically before eventually kicking upfield. He might be testing the referee’s patience here.
31 min: This has become really scrappy again. Millwall will care not a jot. Palace can’t find their groove at all, and the home side are looking comfortable right now.
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29 min: Ward and Gallagher are discussions with the referee over something and nothing. Then Mateta taps his wrist in pantomime irritation as Long takes an age over a drop kick. Palace getting a little irritable.
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27 min: Ojo busies himself down the left and wins a corner off Hughes. Malone takes. It’s half cleared. Ojo, 30 yards out, whistles a shot straight at Butland, who gathers cleanly but is serenaded by saucy whistling anyway.
26 min: Schlupp is booked for some unspecified transgression of the rules. Arguing over the award of a Millwall free kick, possibly, McNamara having purchased a cheap one by getting in the way of Tyrick Mitchell.
25 min: The corner is no use.
24 min: Long finally warms his hands, parrying a swerving Schlupp shot that was heading into the top left. Corner.
23 min: Long takes his sweet time over the restart. The referee tells him to get an effing move on. Time-wasting at this stage is all a bit previous.
22 min: Bradshaw nudges Guehi to the floor, and it’s a free kick for Palace out on the left. Olise swings it into the mixer. Schlupp shanks a shot comfortably wide left. Long, getting a rare start in the Millwall goal, hasn’t had anything to do yet.
20 min: Some minor redemption for Butland as he drops on a Saville snapshot towards the bottom right.
19 min: Butland has the good grace to look thoroughly embarrassed. The Millwall press was magnificent, Bradshaw and Afobe swarming the keeper, and attempting to play out from the back is an admirable pursuit, but sometimes you have to cut your losses and bash the ball away from danger.
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GOAL! Millwall 1-0 Crystal Palace (Afobe 17)
Oh dear Jack Butland. The Palace keeper has the ball at his feet, with Bradshaw and Afobe closing him down. Instead of blootering clear, he attempts to dribble between the two Millwall men. An absurd decision. Afobe nicks the ball off his toe and slots into the empty net. What a fiasco. The Championship club lead!
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16 min: Nope.
15 min: Eze hassles Hutchinson and steals the ball, setting Palace on the attack. Schlupp wins a corner down the left. Can Palace trouble Millwall with their first corner of the game?
13 min: Saville’s elbow did the damage, though the challenge looked accidental, the pair up in the air, contesting a high ball. Gallagher is good to continue, and the game restarts.
11 min: Gallagher is down, having taken a whack in the eye. On comes the physio to do his thing with latex gloves and cotton wool.
9 min: Bradshaw crosses from the left, and Afobe lashes a first-time snapshot wide left of goal from six yards. That was good play by Bradshaw, and a very decent chance to open the scoring.
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7 min: Hughes goes sliding in on Ojo. He gets the ball, but follows through, his studs crumping on Ojo’s leg. Fortunately Ojo isn’t hurt, but that wasn’t clever. You’ve seen players booked for much less. There’s even a case for a red. But here we are. No free kick.
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6 min: Both teams snap into a few tackles. It’s pretty shapeless, as everyone finds their feet. The fans still give it everything, atmosphere beating product right now.
4 min: Otherwise, it’s been a scrappy start. All very hectic.
2 min: Millwall are on the front foot immediately, and win a corner down the right. Malone swings it in fiercely, and it looks like nestling into the top left, with Butland beaten all ends up. But the ball clips the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick. What a start that would have been!
Palace get the ball rolling ... but only after taking the knee. Millwall, who have their own anti-racism initiatives, choose to stand. The home fans give the visitors the bird.
Down pours the rain, and out come the teams. Millwall wear their dark blue, while Palace are sporting blue-and-white halves, a shirt inspired by the club’s first-ever kit, and one they sported while getting to the semi-finals of the very first FA Cup in 1871-72. The home side are also celebrating 150 years of the cup with this delicious retro programme. A rare old atmosphere at the Den, as you’d expect. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Millwall boss Gary Rowett speaks to ITV. “We’re confident in our team. We’re playing a side that has a lot of quality in forward areas, so a large part of our game is how we deal with their attacking numbers. We know it will be a good test. You have to relish these games, it’s what football is about.”
There’s no Jed Wallace or Murray Wallace for Millwall, but George Long gets a go in goal. First-choice keeper Bartosz Bialkowski is on the bench alongside 15-year-old striker Zak Lovelace, an FA Cup fairytale waiting to be told.
Conor Gallagher and Ebere Eze are back for Crystal Palace, who make five changes this afternoon. Patrick Vieira has also recalled Jack Butland, Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta. Luka Milivojevic, Christian Benteke and Odsonne Edouard drop to the bench.
The teams
Millwall: Long, Hutchinson, Pearce, Cooper, McNamara, Mitchell, Saville, Afobe, Ojo, Bradshaw, Malone.
Subs: Kieftenbeld, Smith, Bennett, Evans, Burey, Bialkowski, Boateng, Topalloj, Lovelace.
Crystal Palace: Butland, Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Schlupp, Gallagher, Hughes, Eze, Mateta, Olise.
Subs: Milivojevic, Clyne, Matthews, Benteke, Edouard, Kelly, Riedewald, Rak-Sakyi, Wells-Morrison.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
Preamble
It’s a big South London derby laden with expectation, as Millwall face Crystal Palace for the first time in nine years. These two great rivals have had even longer to wait for an FA Cup showdown: it’s 37 years since George Graham’s Lions won a third-round replay at Selhurst Park after a 1-1 draw at the Den.
Neither club has ever won the famous old trophy, but they’ve both come close, and both have Manchester United to blame for their cup-final heartbreak, Millwall losing to the Red Devils in 2004, Palace in 1990 and 2016. With Millwall chasing a play-off spot in the Championship, and Palace fairly comfortable in the Premier League, both teams will fancy their chances of another famous cup run. Kick off is at 12.45pm, with extra time and penalties to follow should the match end in a draw. It’s on!
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