Millwall came from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 in
their FA Cup fourth-round clash at the Den on Friday
evening.
Villa were looking to bounce back from their Capital
One Cup disappointment against Bradford in midweek
and looked set to do so in style when Darren Bent gave
them the lead midway through the first half.
But Danny Shittu headed home from a corner just five
minutes later and John Marquis netted an 89th-minute
winner to send the Championship side into the last 16.
Villa started like a team under pressure and looked
nervy in possession but Paul Lambert's side seemed to
shake off their early worries and went ahead in the
22nd minute through Bent.
Fabian Delph robbed Liam Feeney of possession and
Andreas Weimann capitalised, running on to the ball
before forcing David Forde into action for the first time.
The Lions' goalkeeper could only palm Weimann's
effort into the path of Bent, whose miskicked effort
crept over the line to give the beleaguered top-flight
side the lead.
But just five minutes after falling behind the hosts
were level, as James Henry's corner found Shittu at the
back post and the Millwall skipper rose to power a
header past Shay Given.
The equaliser led to the nerves creeping back into
Villa's game and meant the Championship promotion
hopefuls went in level at the break.
A couple of set-pieces early in the second half again
tested the visitors' resolve, and Feeney came close to
putting Millwall ahead when he fired just wide
following a corner before the hosts' momentum was
brought to a halt by their own supporters.
The game was stopped for five minutes just before the
hour-mark due to a disturbance amongst Millwall fans
in one corner of the Dockers Stand, with several bottles
thrown in the direction of the assistant referee Mark
Scholes after he awarded a free-kick to Villa.
Once play had resumed Villa substitute Barry Bannan
arrowed in a shot that Forde again decided to push
away but this time the ball bounced to safety.
The tie looked set for a replay at Villa Park until Millwall
striker Marquis headed Adam Smith's cross on to the
bar before reacting quickest to nod home the rebound.
The earlier incident from the Millwall fans meant that
Kenny Jackett's side had to negotiate six minutes of
stoppage time before becoming the first name in the
hat for round five, but they did so with relative ease to
leave Lambert suffering one of his worst weeks in
management.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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