In a gripping London derby at The Valley, Millwall came from behind to draw level with Charlton Athletic. They equalized in the last few minutes, stealing a nail-biter of an away goal and finishing 1-1. The match, held on a crisp autumn afternoon, saw the home side take the lead through Sonny Carey before being reduced to ten men following Kayne Ramsay’s dismissal. Charlton’s defense came up big, even down a man. Nevertheless, on 88 minutes, Ra’ees Bangura-Williams found the back of the net to reward Millwall with a well-deserved equaliser.
Charlton came into the game clearly with a head of steam, taking the first half and ending it with plenty of juice. Then Millwall had a spell of unyielding pressure on their goal. Then finally, in the 40th minute, Carey broke the deadlock with his first goal since signing from Blackpool. The home crowd roared with delight as Charlton took the early lead they so desperately needed. They were set to take the long awaited victory over their south London rivals.
Ramsay’s Red Card Changes Momentum
The second half saw a major turn in the favor of the match. Kayne Ramsay (no. 2) renewed referee Robert Madley’s appreciation for a card very quickly, receiving his second yellow card after taking down Aidomo Emakhu. Ramsay’s sudden dismissal was one of the biggest shocks of the tournament, given the form Charlton had been enjoying leading up to this point. Both of Ramsay’s bookings were for fouling Emakhu. Once again Emakhu proved to be a constant threat and nuisance all game long.
The red card left Charlton with ten players, further altering the power dynamic to favor Millwall. Even with their numerical advantage, Millwall had difficulty at first taking advantage of Charlton’s depleted team. Even as the match wore on, they started to find additional openings, looking to punish the holes in Charlton’s backline.
Late Drama and Frustration
As the match neared its conclusion, Millwall captain Jake Cooper headed wide from a corner taken by Emakhu, reflecting the mounting pressure on the Charlton defense. In the tactical switch, Millwall manager Alex Neil introduced Ra’ees Bangura-Williams and Daniel Kelly. He replaced Mihailo Ivanovic and Camiel Neghli in an effort to bring new energy in his offense.
In the last few minutes, Millwall’s Bangura-Williams played the savior, finishing a terrific equalizing goal in the 88th minute to make it 2-2. His strike not only preserved a draw on the scoreboard, but ended Charlton’s rival’s win streak at 29 years.
“Half-time was probably the angriest I’ve been since I’ve been here – because we were c**p in the first half. It was the basics we were short on.” – Alex Neil
Charlton manager Nathan Jones said he was proud of his team’s performance in spite of the disappointing result. He was pleased with a performance in which even down to ten men his team had been fairly comfortable until that late equaliser.
“I’m proud of the performance because it took a red card for us to draw the game. We were comfortable and I didn’t see us conceding today.” – Nathan Jones
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