Millwall 2-2 West Ham: Hammers come from behind to rescue Dockers Derby point

The first Dockers Derby in 14 years took place at The Den this afternoon, with West Ham coming from two behind to rescue a point against their fierce rivals, Millwall.

Caleb Taylor gave the Lions the lead after 15 minutes, when he fired home from close range after a scramble in the area. Mark Sykes came mere inches away from a legendary Lions goal before the break, when he rattled the bar from 40-yards; however, they got their second moments later anyway when Camiel Neghli stabbed the ball home from inside the six-yard box to cap off a perfect first half for Millwall.

The Hammers got a goal back through Mohamadou Kanté in the 73rd minute, when the midfielder picked out the bottom corner through a sea of bodies from 25 yards. Their equaliser came with 10 minutes of regular time remaining, when Konstantinos Mavrapanos headed the ball home in front of a rapturous away end.

Kanté was shown a red card late in the day, after bringing down Lisbie who had broken clean through on the West Ham goal and looked set to win it for the hosts.

As it happened

West Ham named just one change from their 6-0 win over Wrexham last weekend, which saw Kyle Walker-Peters replace the injured Joël Veltman. Meanwhile, Millwall also made a single change from their midweek draw with Middlesbrough, as Max Crocombe made way for Filip Marschall in the Lions’ goal.

If anybody needed a reminder that this is a derby, Jenson Metcalfe gave them just that inside 30 seconds when he flew into the back of Jarrod Bowen. Taïryk Arconte looked to give Millwall the lead after 10 minutes, but he snatched his shot just wide of the near post.

A mix-up between Mads Hermansen and Mavrapanos moments later almost allowed the hosts to capitalise, but luckily for him, Lyndon Dykes failed to get the desired connection on the ball to take advantage.

The Lions did take the lead shortly after, though, when Taylor smashed the ball home from close range, sending the Millwall fans into ecstasy. Jordan Osei-Tutu came close to doubling their lead two minutes later, but his header rebounded off Walker-Peters’ back.

Arconte broke in behind the Hammers defence just before the half-hour mark; he had Mark Sykes to his right but went alone and Mavrapanos ultimately thwarted his efforts. The Irons’ first shot of the day came in the 33rd minute, when Taty Castellanos’ diving header flew well wide.

The first booking of the day went to West Ham defender Morato, after he brought down Oasei-Tutu inside the Millwall half. Sykes took on a speculative effort before the break, steaming on to the ball 40 yards from goal and smashing it off the crossbar; had that gone in, it’d surely have been goal of the season.

However, they got their second moments later anyway when Neghli stabbed the ball home from inside the six-yard box after a long throw from Lyndon Dykes, meaning Alex Neil’s men headed in at the break two goals to the good.

Nuno Espírito Santo made two changes at the break as his side looked to overturn the deficit; Kanté and Pablo replaced Joël Piroe and Walker-Peters. Divine Mukasa looked to drive the visitors forward early in the second half, winning his side a corner in the opening stages; Arne Engels delivered the set piece but could only find Marschall’s gloves.

The Millwall keeper was forced into a great double save shortly after, firstly denying Bowen’s long-range strike before stopping the onrushing Kanté from netting the rebound. Metcalfe was lucky to avoid a yellow card in the 55th minute, when he clipped Morato’s heel with a late challenge in the middle of the park.

Engels and Mukasa both took on efforts from the edge of the area, as West Ham continued to look for a route back into the game, but neither could find the target. A lengthy and rather confusing break in play came five minutes later. At first, it appeared Marschall was being penalised for time-wasting, but the keeper then claimed Castellanos had spat on him; either way, play resumed in the 65th minute, and neither player was penalised despite conversations with the referee.

The Millwall keeper then made a stunning save to deny Pablo’s close-range header; Mukasa was then replaced by Edvin Austbø. Millwall’s first change followed shortly after, with Elkan Baggott replacing Sykes, leading to a slight system change as they looked to protect their lead.

West Ham got a goal back through Kanté in the 73rd minute, when the midfielder picked out the bottom corner from 25 yards through a sea of bodies. Bowen came close to a leveller three minutes later, forcing a smart save from Marschall to put the ball behind for a corner, which the Lions dealt with well. Austbø called Marschall into action yet again after the ball was cleared, with the keeper denying what would have been an absolute pearler had it found the back of the net.

Their equaliser came with 10 minutes of regular time remaining, when Mavrapanos headed the ball home in front of a rapturous away end. Millwall made a double change following the goal, with Metcalfe and Arconte withdrawn for Kyrell Lisbie and Mathis Servais.

Pablo was then shown a yellow card, and his teammate Max Kilman quickly joined him after committing a tactical foul to stop a Millwall counterattack. Kanté was sent off in the 88th minute for a similar situation, bringing down Lisbie, who was clean through on the West Ham goal. Neghli stepped up to take the resultant free-kick, but his shot struck the wall.

As five additional minutes were announced, both sides made changes, with Castellanos replaced by Lewis Orford whilst Derek Mazou-Sacko was withdrawn in favour of Luke Cundle. The ball dropped for Dykes inside the penalty area in the dying moments, but the Scotsman fired over the crossbar.

An off-the-ball incident between Lisbie and Mavrapanos followed, and the latter was booked. The final action of the game saw Millwall launch a long throw into the penalty area, but they couldn’t make it count meaning the game ended level.