Charlton & Millwall Draw 1 All as 23,000 watch on at the Valley

Clive R was in the press stand and gave his verdict on Saturday's match, Charlton Athletic vs Millwall.

The promotion of Charlton Athletic back to the Championship in May meant a resumption of matches with local South London rivals Millwall, this being the first fixture between the clubs since the 1-0 win for the Lions back in July 2020, and advance ticket sales meant that the match was watched by 23, 293 fans, the highest attendance for the local derby for 50 years.

Both teams have had a steady start to the new season, Millwall just shading the results with two wins and one draw to the Addicks’ one win and two draws, with a resultant 2-point differential in the league. Still, these standings are of little consequence on match day when the emotion of the occasion tends to overrule the form book. 

Such was the case on Saturday lunchtime, with the early kick-off due to television commitments, and the balance of play soon established a slight drift in the direction of the hosts, playing with high midfield pressing tactics serving to limit time on the ball for the visitors. The first half hour brought half-chances to both teams, but neither goalkeeper troubled with any direct saves.

As the game developed, while Millwall had a greater share of possession, Charlton held the balance in attacking moves, and this was rewarded as half-time drew near, when a corner kick on 40 minutes by Connor Coventry on the left wing was punched clear by the Lions’ ‘keeper but only to the edge of the 18-yard box, where Charlton midfielder Sonny Carey took one touch before hitting a low drive through a cluster of defenders and into the bottom left corner of the net- his first goal for Charlton, who left the field to an ovation at the half-time whistle, a goal to the good.

The second half continued in a similar vein, with Charlton now pressing more but without significant impact. Manager Nathan Jones sought to change this with substitutions on 61 minutes, Rob Apter and hard-running Charlie Kelman replaced by James Bree and Miles Leaburn. However, it was a similar change by Millwall that sought to change their style, Bangura-Williams replacing Neghli. There was a more significant change on 74 minutes, however, when referee Robert Madley sent off home defender Ramsay with a second yellow card for a late tackle.

Charlton then sat a bit deeper, being a man short, with less attacking impact, and the visitors had more possession and impetus. This paid dividends with just a couple of minutes remaining when a move down their left wing brought a shot saved by home keeper Kaminski, but only parried to Bangura-Williams, who slotted the ball under the prone keeper to equalise.  This brought the visiting fans to life with ‘No one likes us’ and ‘You’ll never beat Millwall’ chants, not heard until that time, and continued through five minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle coming with the score at  – Charlton Athletic 1 Millwall 1.

Leaving the stadium did present problems, with dispersal routes aimed at preventing confrontation having been issued by the local constabulary only on social media on Friday morning, so that many fans were unaware of these. Some consequences have been mentioned in online chat groups since the game, and it will be interesting to note any official responses.